Relational being: beyond self and community

How should I describe myself to you at this moment?You would scarcely be surprised if I told you that I am now at my desk, absorbed in thought.I entertain an idea, consider its shortcomings, play with another, extend its possibilities, and slowly I am moved to write.I try fi tfully to transform these fl eeting states of mind into words, hoping that these pages will allow you, the reader, to understand my thoughts.Doesn't this sound quite reasonable?Consider again: How does this commonplace passage defi ne me as a writer?And in defi ning me, what does it tell us about our conceptions of being human?In important respects, we fi nd here a picture of me as an individual thinker, dwelling in an interior world of…