La cura spirituale

Starting from a phenomenological analysis of the human condition, this essay posits that caring for oneself and for others is the primary necessity of being-there. In this sense, care is the ethics of being-there. According to Socrates, to care for oneself is to care for the soul. The primary virtue of the soul consists in remaining faithful to the primary necessity of the life: searching for what is good. There is no science of the perfect good, however we can search for the practical good, i.e. the one that, as Aristotle suggests, is realized through actions. Indeed, the question that characterizes being-there and that is indicative of the problem of the human condition, is «what to do?». Since human beings are, in their essence, beings that act, a good quality of life depends on the quality of one’s actions. In considering the experiences of people who are witness to good care and following the arguments of ancient philosophy, it is possible to suggest that to be in search of goodness means acting according to virtue.