Introduzione. Empatia e relazionalità: dalla comunicazione dei corpi all'orizzonte del nonumano

The current popularity of empathy matches a paradigmatic shift in the public discourse on human nature, as well as of organisms in general, as intrinsically relational. The paper contrasts this view with former styles of naturalization, such as the one entailed in "biological altruism", and discusses its societal im- plications as well as its possible bearings on the current environmental issues, pulling together the major threads of the volume.