Vous êtes sur la page 1sur 42

The Nature of a

Human Person

What is a Human Person?


Lessons-An Embodied Spirit
Marks of the Mental
What/Who is a Human Person?

Approaches to philosophical
study of the human person
1. Metaphysical approach
2. Existential approach
Philosophical Studies
METAPHYSICAL APPROACH
-which focuses on the kinds of substances
or materials and capacities that uniquely
make up a human person
EXISTENTIAL APPROACH
-which focuses on the kind of life, or mode
of existence, that is unique to a human
person
Philosophical Studies
METAPHYSICAL APPROACH
-it examines the essential components
of a human person
-dealing with what of a human person
(ex. Tarzan has the what of a human
person for he has the physical and
mental capacities of a human person)
Philosophical Studies
EXISTENTIAL APPROACH
-it examines the essential features of
the human way of life
-dealing with the who of a human
person (ex. Tarzan while living with the
apes, he has the who of an ape as he
lives the way of life of an ape)
Views on Human Person

1. unspirited body view


2. disembodied spirit view
3. embodied spirit view
Views on Human Person
UNSPIRITED BODY VIEW
-a human person is essentially just
his/her body and nothing more
-has the belief that humans do not
have the spiritual component
If there is no such thing as a spirit,
then a human person is essentially
just his/her body
Views on Human Person
DISEMBODIED SPIRIT VIEW
-a human person is just his/her spirit
-maintains that a human person has both
body and spirit but claims that it is the spirit
that essentially defines the human person
-believes that while the body is dependent
on the spirit, the spirit is not dependent on
the body. Meaning the body will die if there
is no spirit, but the spirit will survive even if
there is no body
Views on Human Person
EMBODIED SPIRIT VIEW
-a human person is essentially the unity of
his/her body and spirit
-maintains that a human person has both
body and spirit but claims that it is essentially
the unity of these two components
-believes that the body and the spirit cannot
exist independently of one another. That is,
each will not survive with the absence of the
other
Unspirited Body View
-views that what we normally
call mental states, such as our
thoughts and emotions, are
actually physical states (ex. Mind-
brain identity theory and
Behaviorism)
Unspirited Body View
Mind-brain identity theory
-which claims that what we call the
mind is nothing but the brain and
what we call mental states are
nothing but simply the neural states
of the brain. Such that to be in pain
is just the c-fibers of the brain being
stimulated
Unspirited Body View
Behaviorism
-which claims that what we call
mental states simply refer to
ones inclinations or tendencies
to show certain behavior. Such
that to be in pain is to be inclined
to cry
Disembodied Spirit View
-believes that the spirit and the body
are two different kinds of entities or
substances in that the body is the
physical and the spirit is nonphysical.
Believes that the spirit is independent of
the body in that the spirit can survive
without the body while the body cannot
survive without the spirit (Plato and
Descartes)
Disembodied Spirit View
PLATO
-presented several arguments on the immortality of the
soul
-To learn is to remember. The soul must be immortal
otherwise we can never explain the nature of knowledge
as recollection.
-he believes that one learns by remembering what once
new but have somehow forgotten (Demiurge)
-Claims that since souls are nonphysical then they are not
composed of parts. And if they are composed of parts
then they cannot decompose and thus cannot die
Disembodied Spirit View
DESCARTES
-views reality as composed of two types of substances:
mind (nonphysical) and matter (physical). Mind is
conscious but not extended in space, while matter is
extended but not conscious. Being physical, matter is
determined by the laws of nature and thus has no free
will; while, mind being nonphysical is not determined by
such laws thus free will
-He classifies entities according to matter and mind.
Matter includes plants, animals, human bodies and rest
of nature. Whereas minds include the imperfect mind of
humans and the perfect mind of God.
Embodied Spirit View
-regards the soul as the principle or
the cause of life. Meaning the soul is
what gives life to something.
Nonliving things thus have no souls.
While living things consisting of
plants, animals and humans have
souls. (Aristotle and St. Thomas
Aquinas)
Embodied Spirit View
ARISTOTLE
-the body and soul are two different aspects
of the human person. The body is the
matter or material aspect, and the soul is
the form or formal aspect (ex. Knife). The
form of something refers to the natural
capacity, ability or function that gives life to
something. While matter refers to the kind
of material that it is made of.
Embodied Spirit View
ARISTOTLE
Kinds of soul
(that enables to perform activities necessary
for)
1.Vegetative/nutritive soul- (plants) nourishment,
growth and reproduction
2. Sensitive soul- (animals) n, g, r, sensation and
locomotion
3. Rational soul- (humans) n, g, r, s, l, intelligence
or rational thinking, and freedom or freewill.
Embodied Spirit View
AQUINAS
-thinks that the rational soul of humans are dual in nature.
There is a part that is dependent on the body, there is also a
part that is not dependent on the body. The vegetative and
sensitive abilities of plants and animals are dependent on
the body (mortal). But the rational or thinking ability is not
dependent on the body (immortal).
-he maintains that the human person is the unity of body
and soul, which implies that the soul that survives after
death is no longer a human person. He calls the human soul
as subsistent rather than substance to indicate that human
souls though immortal, is incomplete in nature and is
completed when it is reunited with the body.
Embodied Spirit View
Essential Features
1. Maintains human freedom.
2. Gives importance to the soul as it also
acknowledges the value of the body.
3. It can accommodate opposing views.
Activity
Make a discussion on the
topic What is a person.
Present it in a multi media
format to be watched in the
class (group performance).
Marks of the Mental
We shall examine the human
mind, that is the minds identifying
or distinguishing properties. Such
that the mind is an essential part of
being a human person, whatever
properties that the mind has will
also be essential properties the of
human person.
Marks of the Mental
Gen. Distinguishing Features of the
Mind
1. Consciousness
2. Qualia/subjective quality
3. Intentionality
4. Ontological subjectivity
5. Privacy
Marks of the Mental
1. Consciousness- generally refers to
awareness. It is described as the
states of sentience or awareness
that typically begin when we wake
up in the morning from a dreamless
sleep and continue throughout the
day till we fall asleep again.
Marks of the Mental
Indicators of Consciousness
a. Cognition- knowing, believing,
understanding, thinking, and
reasoning
b. Emotions- envy, anger, fear and joy
c. Sensations- pains, tickles, and itches
Marks of the Mental
Indicators of Consciousness
d. Quasi-perception- hallucinations,
dreaming and imagining
e. Conations- trying, wanting, and
intending
f. Reason and will- problem solving
Marks of the Mental
2. Qualia (quale)/subjective quality - refers to
the particular way that we become conscious of
or experience our own mental states, such as
the particular way we experience the hurting
sensation of having a toothache, the particular
type of food tastes us, and the particular way a
certain kind of music sounds to us. It is also
sometimes described as the qualitative or
phenomenal feel of our conscious experience.
It answers the question What is like to have or
experience such states?
Marks of the Mental
3. Intentionality- refers to the property
of mental states to have contents, or to
be about or be directed at some
objects or states of affairs in the world.
It is regarded as something inherent or
originals for it is something not up to
us- it is something that we just
recognize.
Marks of the Mental
4. Ontological subjectivity- such mental
states exist only as a person experience
them, or, generally speaking, is
conscious of them. In short, mental
states exist only because there are
people who have them. For instance,
pain exist only as there is a person who
experiences them.
Marks of the Mental
5. Privacy- such mental states are
only knowable to the person who
has them. Say for example, if I have
a toothache, it is only I who can
have direct knowledge of my
toothache.
The Nature of a
Human Person

Who is a Human Person?


Lessons-A Being in the World
Transcedence and Limitations
A Being in the World

What are the essential


features of a human
person as a being in the
world?
A Being in the World
1. Involvement or engagement- The
human persons being-in or
existence in the world cannot be
described simply as a relation in
space, in that the human person
just happens to be in a particular
place. More importantly, it is
characterized by care (being in)
A Being in the World
2. Utility- this means that things
appear to the human person merely
as a form of equipment or
instrument, or as things that the
human person can use either for
his/her practical purposes or for
his/her theoretical contemplation
(being alongside)/(equipmental)
A Being in the World
3. Considerateness and
forbearance- is shown in
moments when the human
person empathizes with his/her
fellow human person(being
with)/(social/public)
A Being in the World
4. Temporality- here the
past is regarded as no
longer real and the future
is not yet real; only the
present is real
A Being in the World
4. Facticity- the human persons
past and future are much part of
their present. It refers to everything
about the existence of a human
person that can no longer be
changed (ex. Physical features,
genes, parents, birthday)
A Being in the World
4. Existentiality- refers to all
possibilities that a human person
has and can choose to have. . This
includes all the projects that a
human person can set for himself to
accomplish in the future.
A Being in the World
4. Falleness- is the state of a human
person when he/she lives in an
inauthentic existence, referring to
the kind of existence in which a
human person is not the one
making decisions for himself.
Transcendence and Limitations
Activity
THUMBLESS LIFE- In five
minutes, list down the things
you cannot do because you are
thumb-less and the things you
can do even if you are thumb-
less
Transcendence and Limitations
Guide Questions (THUMBLESS LIFE)
1. How do you feel about yourself after failing to do
some activities that you normally do easily?
2. Did you appreciate the importance of your
thumb?
3. When there are still things you can do even
without your thumb, did that change the way you
fell about yourself?
4. Do you agree if someone says that without your
thumb, your life is as not as human as it should
be?
Transcendence and Limitations
Explain the Paradox
The body limits us. Unlike the
birds that can fly we have no wings
to make us fly. But with our creative
minds, we invented jets and planes
to makes us fly even farther than
any bird.

Vous aimerez peut-être aussi