Resonance as an integral part of human resilience

Abstract

The author analyses the relationship between the concepts of resilience and resonance. He argues for the thesis that resonance is an integral part of the genuine human resilience. Therefore, there is no contradiction between resonance and resilience if we understand these two concepts correctly. The opposite arises only if we understand resilience as a kind of robust and rigid resistance, but which, as the author argues, does not correspond to the notion of true human resilience. Since resonance is an integral part of human resilience, we can say that human resilience depends on their being in resonance relationships. The understanding of the resonance that the author takes for the grounding of his main thesis was developed by German sociologist Hartmut Rosa. Thus the paper includes also the presentation of Rosa’s conception of resonance and his theory of our relationship to the world. Despite the focus on the main thesis, the article is not only a contribution to the understanding of resilience, but also enriches the understanding of (Rosa’s) notion of resonance by showing its importance for resilience. The author argues that classical theological virtues (faith, hope, and charity (love)) can be positive factors of human resilience, and illuminates them from the point of view of resonance.