# Relational ontology > In a relational ontology, the idea is that relations between entities are more fundamental than the entities themselves. > > – [[The Nested-I and Ubuntu Rationality: The Relational Ontology of the Commons]] > It means that living organisms develop and thrive through their interactions with each other. That is the basis for their identity and biological survival. That is the basis for their aliveness. > > – [[The Nested-I and Ubuntu Rationality: The Relational Ontology of the Commons]] > While individual organisms may have important degrees of agency, they can only be understood in the context of their myriad relationships and constraints by larger structures. > > – [[Free, Fair and Alive]] Sounds a bit like [[Viable system model]]? And [[Institutional Analysis and Development]] (re: [[polycentrism]])? > As a social system based on how people come together to collaborate and sustain themselves, a Commons is based on a relational ontology. > > – [[Free, Fair and Alive]] > to see that everything is interdependent, and that our individual wellbeing depends upon collective well-being. Our polity must be “attuned to the relational dimension of life,” as Arturo Escobar puts it. > > – [[Free, Fair and Alive]]