Dallentità

Dallentità is a term used in contemporary Italian philosophy and information science to describe a theory of entity identity that emphasizes relational provenance and networked history over fixed intrinsic properties. The word blends dall' (from) and entità (entity), signaling that an object's identity is constituted by its lineage, interactions, and contextual embedding rather than by essential attributes alone.

In this framework, an entity's identity is seen as emergent from its causal history, the set of relations it maintains with other entities, and the systems in which it participates. Identity may persist across transformations if these relational structures are preserved, even when intrinsic features change. The concept is frequently invoked in discussions about digital objects, infrastructure, and complex systems where provenance and interconnection shape how an entity is recognized and trusted.

Origins and usage have been most prominent in Italian-language debates on ontology, data provenance, and artificial intelligence, particularly in the contexts of digital twins, provenance tracking, and governance of identity in distributed networks. The term is not uniformly standardized and is used with varying emphasis by different scholars, sometimes overlapping with or extending relational-ontology ideas.

Relation to other concepts: dallentità is related to haecceity, essentialism, and relational ontology, but it foregrounds historical and relational conditions as constitutive of identity. It is often paired with practical frameworks in ontology engineering, data modeling, and information security to address how identities are established, maintained, and transferred across systems.

Critics argue that dallentità can blur metaphysical and normative claims with practical concerns about governance and data management, and that it may overemphasize network relations at the expense of stable, intrinsic characteristics. See also: identity, ontology, provenance, digital twin, relational theory.