Rosa’s project of a sociology of the good life, which first analyses the modern alienation of man in the acceleration society and then offers a solution to it through the concept of resonance, is based on various philosophical assumptions that go beyond sociology. Although Rosa’s thought is usually associated with the philosophical tradition of Critical Theory (of the Frankfurt School), his approach shows a great affinity with the fundamental ideas of phenomenology, both in its early period (Husserl, Heidegger) and in later authors (Levinas, Henry, Marion, Chrétien). Resonance presupposes a new attitude towards the world, different from modern (Galilean) science and its technical mastery of the world. It requires an openness to the contingency of the event, an attitude of acceptance and letting-be in relation to the world. In the attitude of resonance, one answers the call that comes from an uncontrollable otherness. Activity and domination are replaced by responsiveness and responsibility. Resonant relationships transform the human being and rescue him/her from the vicious circle of acceleration in an alienated world.
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