Persona, comunità e il problema della dignità

The conceptual polarity person-community represents a key topic within the traditional or continental philosophical-legal debate as well as a crucial theoretical framework of some legal documents (i.e. the Italian Constitution). The analysis of the fundamental historical-legal paradigms according to which this pair developed (the Christian model, the modern passage and the contemporary scenario) highlights the theoretical complexity and the dialectical structure underlying the idea of “person” and the communitarian horizon as well. Starting from this perspective it is possible to grasp the gradual transition between two models. On the one hand the traditional recognition of the pair person-community, which was based on a cooperative model and social solidarism. On the other hand the contemporary and contradictory idea of protection of individual dignity, which is more and more oriented to emphasize the principle of autonomy or individual self-determination (especially with regard to international and supranational law). In other words: from the pair person-community to the couple dignity-individual rights. Hence the problematic proposal of the theoretical and normative relation person-community within the contemporary complex societies.