What is the indispensable? What is indispensable to us?
If I were to put forward a definition, I would say that it is that which, in our existence in the world, gives form and substance to the fundamental threads of meaning in our lives. Who we are, what we do with our time, what values and ways of life we follow – these are questions to which the indispensable provides an answer. The ‘indispensable’ is the core of the meaning of what surrounds us and what happens to us; a meaning that is always in the process of becoming, alongside the flux of reality and alongside experience.
Needs and desires find their source and their direction in the ‘indispensable’, but not solely in it: they are, in fact, closely intertwined with historical, political and cultural circumstances, and with our personality. So, if we can regard the indispensable as something of a guiding star for our actions, needs and desire represent the ships sailing through the currents along multiple routes.
I would like to thank Wanda Tommasi, who has described the concepts of desire and needs with great accuracy, along with their similarities and differences, and how they are intertwined. My reflection here follows on from the line of thought she has opened up, but focuses in particular on needs, leaving desire aside for the moment. The question I wish to reflect on is how to navigate between surrogate needs – that is, those needs that remain confined within the boundaries of the self – and needs that we feel are essential. My proposal is that we use the echo to guide us.
Originally published as: C. Diotto, Orientarsi con l’eco, in Diotima, L’irrinunciabile. Alla radice dei bisogni, con saggi di Chiara Zamboni, Wanda Tommasi, Caterina Diotto, Marìa-Milagros Rivera Garretas, Marìa Josefa Gil Mendoza, Anna Maria Piussi, Antonietta Potente, Giovanna Borrello, Mimesis, Milano 2023, pp. 33-50.
Photographer: Ali Kazal
Caterina Diotto 