No princípio era o «Outro»

: a relação como chave hermenêutica do humano: um olhar teológico-sistemático sobre a pessoa à luz da sua vocação à comunhão

Abstract

The word «relationship» defines the anthropological, and even theological, structure that builds us all. Without its dialogical referent man becomes incomprehensible to himself, falling into drastic meaninglessness, into his nothingness, because he betrays what he was made for: to love and to be loved. Created by God and for Him, every human being is born biologically and ontologically prepared for relationships with others and with the Supreme Other. Created in the «image and likeness» of God, our fulfilment as people lies in our vocation to communion, inaugurated in the kairological «today» and extended in the escathological «tomorrow», as He is the communion of Three Persons. This we can say taht in the beginning there was the «Other», because it was God. We are the «you» of God. This is the answer to the question: «What thing is a man?» (cf. Ps 8, 4). Starting from these fundamental assumptions, can we, therefore, speak of a constitutive character of the «other», in the understanding of what it means to be a person? Is a relational anthropology possible on the basis of a trinitarian ontology? Is a relationally anthropology possible based on the Trinity ontology? Is there a principle relationally anthropological at the basis of eclesial existence? In this dissertation, we will try to answer these questions.

Date of Award	12 Mar 2025
Original language	Portuguese
Awarding Institution	Universidade Católica Portuguesa
Supervisor	António Martins (Supervisor)