Human person

Question 1

Who is a human being

Answer 1

• Man is a soul encased in a body
• Man is a rational animal
• Man is by nature a political animal”
• Man is a hylomorphic being, i.e. he has a body and a soul. The body is matter and the soul is its substantial form.
• The human person is a psychosomatic unit, i.e. is a unity of body and soul. The body is corporeal in nature while the soul is spiritual in nature

Question 2

How is the human person made up or constituted

Answer 2

In philosophical terms the faculty we use for thinking is known as the mind or the intellect; the intellect is the capacity to think, to know, to acquire knowledge. Ultimately that which we seek to know through the intellect is the truth.

Question 3

Intelligence

Answer 3

• The capacity to read into the nature of things.
• Man is a creature that searches for meaning and his/her expressions have meaning.
• As he is free, he can invent new ways of behaving, or he can act against what he thinks he ought to do or he can do it because he wants to, that is, freely

Question 4

Cultural and ethical application of the term human nature

Answer 4

1. It offers a basis which allows us to say that all men are essentially equal.
2. Allows us to affirm that a universal ethics exists, which is valid for every man, due to the simple fact that if we have a common nature, then we also have common ethical principles or requirements
3. Offers a basis for affirming that absolute moral norms exist that hold for all men.
4. Gives a transcendent basis to the human person in that, although man is free, he does not create or invent his own nature, but rather he receives it as given.

Question 5

Who is a person

Answer 5

An individual substance of a rational nature

Question 6

Substantiality

Answer 6

: the person subsists, continues to exist, in spite of changes around him; the person is a being that persists, in time

Question 7

Individuality

Answer 7

the person is a unique and specific type of being ; each person is different in himself, and is distinct from other persons

Question 8

Rational nature

Answer 8

a person is a particular type of substance because he has intelligence and is capable of understanding the world; he is a spiritual being

Question 9

What makes the individual substance be a person?

Answer 9

According to Boethius, it is the fact that the substance is of a rational nature; that is, the human person has the capacity for self-conscious, reflective and abstract thought

Question 10

Characteristics of a person

Answer 10

1. A spiritual being who has an immaterial form (spirituality)
2. Can think (rationality)
3. The thought process and other aspects of the soul are affected by the body and vice versa (somaticity)
4. The person performs actions which are not tied to corporeality but can transcend the person’s existence for example thinking, loving and worshiping (transcendence).
5. They are externalized through rational language to other people (Emergence).

Question 11

Human body

Answer 11

• The body depends on the soul which is the first act of the body. The soul enables the body to function.
• The human body with its functions and faculties constitutes human nature. We receive our body from our parents.
• It is true that the brain and human body comes from my parents, but how I think and choose is something proper to me as an individual
• When we are born, we are born naked. Man discovers that his body is without clothing. I am aware that I exist and that I am naked. Furthermore, I am aware that I should not be naked.
• The act of clothing is a human action and not an animal act.

Question 12

Duality and dualism

Answer 12

• Man has a dual constitution: body and soul. Pairs are also present in man’s life: life and death, love and hatred, good and evil, pain and pleasure, right and left,…
• A vision of things that exaggerates this feature of human life is dualism. It gives emphasis to one end of the pole to end up making the two extremes oppose and exclude each other. Thus, dualism will regard there to be irreconcilable opposition between body and soul, matter and spirit

Question 13

Materialism

Answer 13

The materialists will consider the emotions and thoughts as simply biochemical reactions and the interplay of neurons. They are just material states. This conception views what is properly spiritual in man as belonging to the realm of matter. And so, there is no spirit: just matter.

Question 14

The dignity and value of the Human Body

Answer 14

• The human body is precisely dignified because it is animated by a spiritual soul.
• The body, cannot be separated from the person because of the profound unity (soul +body)
• The body is not a mere ‘thing’, ‘object’ or ‘instrument’. It belongs to a subject: the human person. Man therefore has a natural duty to respect the human body.

Question 15

Caring for one’s life implies among others

Answer 15

1. Caring for one’s rest and relaxation: this demands order, time and resources. To rest is not to “do nothing”, but to engage in a change of activity for a time.
2. Managing stress, following well known techniques: order, timetables, self-forgetfulness, etc.
3. Looking after one’s health: personal hygiene, medical check-up, avoiding unnecessary dangers (e.g. dangerous sports).
4. Avoiding addictions and substance abuse (alcoholism, drug abuse, gambling), and excesses (in food, entertainment, work, music, sports, etc.)

Question 16

Basic principles on human life

Answer 16

• Every human life is sacred, i.e. it has a connection with God, because it involves the creative activity of God
• All people are equal in dignity, a dignity that is intrinsic to every person.
• Because of its dignity, human life should be respected from conception to natural death. This is an inalienable right.
• No one can claim for himself the right to directly destroy an innocent human being
• The right to life is the basis of all subsequent rights; the right to life is also an obligation, a duty to respect life.