The frontier of relationship

Giacometti's workplace

What is a relationship? What does one really mean when he says he is in relationship with another?

Why is it that this issue seems to be so trifling to the "average people"? If one is asked for the meaning of a particular relationship (by relationship we mean friendship relationship), the most probable answer would be something like <I don't know, we are just friends>. Of course this is not generalizable, but the tone it involves could actually be generalizable to some extent. It is that tone that we want to focus on, and try to figure out what lies underneath.

This question points to another problem: to induce an attitude from a "verbal-limited" behaviour. That is, to try to understand how one feels and thinks from the way he expresses himself. However, isn't it already the main problem? In other words: the very disposition for this kind of approach denies us the assumption that we can actually infer some other's qualities. For that reason, if we definitely want to proceed with this, we have to accept that the conclusions we come to will indeed be subjective. Perhaps we will finish up knowing more about ourselves than about the others.

(falta)