Artykuły naukowe 41 One of the problems of today’s life lies in the neglect of interconnectedness. An- other problem arises when the autonomy of the individual person is endangered by the presence of an all-absorbing totality. Te combination between sepa- rability and connection to the larger society permits us to think together the unique value of each person as well as the social dimension in the human being. Marcia Pally has developed a theologically based ontology in which relational- ity and separatedness are not contradictory. 1 Her ontology of separability-amid- situatedness has political and economic relevance and keeps the balance between autonomy and relatedness. 2 In my contribution to Staszek’s Festschrif, I focus upon the problem of distinction without relation. Te greater well-being of all is violated if too much accent is put on separatedness or autonomy that overlooks the responsibility towards others. Te Renaissance discovered the individual, who cannot be wrapped in a whole or absorbed in a general category. During the age of Enlightenment, Kant urged his reading public to free themselves from mental immaturity and to think for themselves. Tese are important developments that rescue the individual from totalizing movements. Today, more than ever, we pay attention to the individual 1 M. Pally, Commonwealth and Covenant. Economics, Politics, and Teologies of Relationality, Grands Rapids, MI: William B. Eerdmans, 2016. 2 Sallie King kindly refers me to the Karmapa, Ogyen Trinley Dorje, Interconnected: Embracing Life in our Global Society, Somerville, MA: Wisdom Publications, 2017, who also keeps the bal- ance between the two. I wholeheartedly thank Prof. King for her pertinent remarks on a pre- vious version of this article. On the Lofiness of Relational Identity Ephraim Meir (Bar-Ilan University, Israel) Ephraim Meir Edukacja Filozofczna 68/2019 ISSN 0860-3839 DOI: 10.14394/edufl.2019.0014 ORCID: 0000-0002-8858-1393