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 ap
approach
! E"isten#al approach
What/Who is a Human Person?

Approaches to philosophical
study of the human person
1 Metaphysical ap
approach
! E"isten#al approach
 Philosophical Studies
METAPHYSICA APP!"ACH
-which focuses on the kinds of substances
or materials and capacies that uniquely
make up a human person
E#ISTENTIA APP!"ACH
$which focuses on the kind of life, or mode
of existence, that is unique to a human
 person
 Philosophical Studies
METAPHYSICA APP!"ACH
-it examines the essenal 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 ph physical
ysical and
mental capacies of a human person
 Philosophical Studies
E#ISTENTIA APP!"ACH
$it examines the essenal features of
the human way of life
-dealing with the who of a human
 person (ex. Tarzan while li!ing with the
apes, he has the who of an ape as he
li!es the way of life of an ape
%ie&s on Human Person

1 unspirited body $ie%

! disembodied spirit $ie%
& embodied spirit $ie%
 %ie&s on Human Person
'NSPI!ITE( )"(Y %IEW
-a human person is essenally "ust
his#her body and nothing more
-has the belief that humans do not
ha!e the spiritual component 
$f there is no such thing as a spirit,
then a human person is essenally
 "ust his#her body 
 %ie&s on Human Person
(ISEM)"(IE( SPI!IT %IEW
-a human person is "ust his#her spirit 
-maintains that a human person has both
body and spirit but claims that it is the spirit
that essenally de%nes the human person
-belie!es that while the body is dependent
on the spirit, the spirit is not dependent on
the body. &eaning the body will die if there
is no spirit, but the spirit will sur!i!e e!en if
there is no body 
 %ie&s on Human Person
EM)"(IE( SPI!IT %IEW
-a human person is essenally the unity of
his#her body and spirit 
-maintains that a human person has both
body and spirit but claims that it is essenally
the unity of these two components
-belie!es that the body and the spirit cannot
exist independently of one another. That is,
each will not sur!i!e with the absence of the
other 
 'nspirited )od* %ie&
-!iews that what we normally
call 'mental states, such as our
thoughts and emoons, are
actually physical states (ex. &ind-
brain identy theory and
)eha!iorism
 'nspirited )od* %ie&
&ind-brain identy 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. *uch that to be in pain
is "ust the c-%bers of the brain being
smulated 
 'nspirited )od* %ie&
)eha!iorism
-which claims that what we call
'mental states simply refer to
one+s inclinaons or tendencies
to show certain beha!ior. *uch
that to be in pain is to be inclined
to cry 
 (isem+odied Spirit %ie&
-belie!es that the spirit and the body
are two dierent kinds of enes or
substances in that the body is the
 physical and the spirit is nonphysical.
)elie!es that the spirit is independent of
the body in that the spirit can sur!i!e
without the body while the body cannot
sur!i!e without the spirit (lato and
escartes
(isem+odied Spirit %ie&
PAT"
-presented se!eral arguments on the immortality of the
soul 
-To learn is to remember. The soul must be immortal
otherwise we can ne!er explain the nature of knowledge
as recollecon.
-he belie!es that one learns by remembering what once
new but ha!e somehow forgo/en (emiurge
-0laims that since souls are nonphysical then they are not
composed of parts. 1nd if they are composed of parts
then they cannot decompose and thus cannot die
(isem+odied Spirit %ie&
(ESCA!TES
-!iews reality as composed of two types of substances2
mind (nonphysical and ma/er (physical. &ind is
conscious but not extended in space, while ma/er is
extended but not conscious. )eing physical, ma/er is
determined by the laws of nature and thus has no free
will3 while, mind being nonphysical is not determined by
such laws thus free will
-4e classi%es enes according to ma/er and mind.
&a/er includes plants, animals, human bodies and rest
of nature. 5hereas minds include the imperfect mind of
humans and the perfect mind of 6od.
 Em+odied Spirit %ie&
-regards the soul as the principle or
the cause of life. &eaning the soul is
what gi!es life to something.
7onli!ing things thus ha!e no souls.
5hile li!ing things consisng of
 plants, animals and humans ha!e
souls. (1ristotle and *t. Thomas
 1quinas
 Em+odied Spirit %ie&
A!IST"TE
-the body and soul are two dierent aspects
of the human person. The body is the
'ma/er or material aspect, and the soul is
the 'form or formal aspect (ex. 8nife. The
 form of something refers to the natural
capacity, ability or funcon that gi!es life to
something. 5hile ma/er refers to the kind
of material that it is made of.
 Em+odied Spirit %ie&
A!IST"TE
,inds of soul
  'that enables to perform ac#$i#es necessary
for()
1*e+eta#$e,nutri#$e soul- 'plants) nourishment
+ro%th and reproduc#on
! Sensi#$e soul- 'animals) n + r sensa#on and
locomo#on
& .a#onal soul- 'humans) n + r s l intelli+ence
or ra#onal thinkin+ and freedom or free%ill
 Em+odied Spirit %ie&
A-'INAS
-thinks that the raonal soul of humans are dual in nature.
There is a part that is dependent on the body, there is also a
 part that is not dependent on the body. The !egeta!e and
sensi!e abilies of plants and animals are dependent on
the body (mortal. )ut the raonal or thinking ability is not
dependent on the body (immortal.
-he maintains that the human person is the unity of body
and soul, which implies that the soul that sur!i!es a9er
death is no longer a human person. 4e calls the human soul
as subsistent rather than substance to indicate that human
souls though immortal, is incomplete in nature and is
completed when it is reunited with the body.
 Em+odied Spirit %ie&
Essen#al /eatures
1 Maintains human freedom
! 0i$es importance to the soul as it also
ackno%led+es the $alue of the body
& t can accommodate opposin+ $ie%s
 Ac.it*
Make a discussion on the
topic 2What is a person3
Present it in a mul# media
format to be %atched in the
class '+roup performance)
 Mar0s of the Mental
5e shall examine the human
mind, that is the mind+s idenfying
or disnguishing properes. *uch
that the mind is an essenal part of
being a human person, whate!er
 properes that the mind has will
also be essenal properes the of
human person.
 Mar0s of the Mental
0en 4is#n+uishin+ /eatures of the
Mind
1 5onsciousness
! 6ualia,sub7ec#$e 8uality
& nten#onality
9 :ntolo+ical sub7ec#$ity
; Pri$acy
 Mar0s of the Mental
1 5onsciousness- +enerally refers to
a%areness t is described as the
2states of sen#ence or a%areness
that typically be+in %hen %e %ake
up in the mornin+ from a dreamless
sleep and con#nue throu+hout the
day #ll %e fall asleep a+ain3
 Mar0s of the Mental
ndicators of 5onsciousness
a 5o+ni#on- kno%in+ belie$in+
understandin+ thinkin+ and
reasonin+
b Emo#ons- en$y an+er fear and 7oy
c Sensa#ons- pains #ckles and itches
 Mar0s of the Mental
ndicators of 5onsciousness
d 6uasi-percep#on- hallucina#ons
dreamin+ and ima+inin+
e 5ona#ons- tryin+ %an#n+ and
intendin+
f .eason and %ill- problem sol$in+
 Mar0s of the Mental
! 6ualia '8uale),sub7ec#$e 8uality - refers to
the par#cular %ay that %e become conscious of
or e"perience our o%n mental states such as
the par#cular %ay %e e"perience the hur#n+
sensa#on of ha$in+ a toothache the par#cular
type of food tastes us and the par#cular %ay a
certain kind of music sounds to us t is also
some#mes described as the 8ualita#$e or
phenomenal 2feel3 of our conscious e"perience
t ans%ers the 8ues#on 2What is like to ha$e or
e"perience such states?3
 Mar0s of the Mental
& nten#onality- refers to the property
of mental states to ha$e contents or to
be about or be directed at some
ob7ects or states of a<airs in the %orld
t is re+arded as somethin+ inherent or
ori+inals for it is somethin+ not up to
us- it is somethin+ that %e 7ust
reco+ni=e
 Mar0s of the Mental
9 :ntolo+ical sub7ec#$ity- such mental
states e"ist only as a person e"perience
them or +enerally speakin+ is
conscious of them n short mental
states e"ist only because there are
people %ho ha$e them /or instance
pain e"ist only as there is a person %ho
e"periences them
 Mar0s of the Mental
; Pri$acy- such mental states are
only kno%able to the person %ho
has them Say for e"ample if  ha$e
a toothache it is only  %ho can
ha$e direct kno%led+e of my
toothache
 The Nature of a
Human Person

Who is a Human Person?

Lessons-A >ein+ in the World
ranscedence and Limita#ons
 A )ein1 in the World

What are the essen#al

features of a human
person as a bein+ in the
%orld?
 A )ein1 in the World
1 n$ol$ement or en+a+ement- he
human person@s bein+-in or
e"istence in the %orld cannot be
described simply as a rela#on in
space in that the human person
7ust happens to be in a par#cular
place More importantly it is
characteri=ed b care bein in
 A )ein1 in the World
! #lity- this means that thin+s
appear to the human person merely
as a form of e8uipment or
instrument or as thin+s that the
human person can use either for
his,her prac#cal purposes or for
his,her theore#cal contempla#on
bein alon side , e ui mental
 A )ein1 in the World
& 5onsiderateness and
forbearance- is sho%n in
moments %hen the human
person empathi=es %ith his,her
fello% human person'bein+
%ith),'social,public)
 A )ein1 in the World
9 emporality- here the
past is re+arded as no
lon+er real and the future
is not yet realB only the
present is real
 A )ein1 in the World
9 /ac#city- the human person@s
past and future are much part of
their present t refers to e$erythin+
about the e"istence of a human
person that can no lon+er be
chan+ed 'e" Physical features
+enes parents birthday)
 A )ein1 in the World
9 E"isten#ality- refers to all
possibili#es that a human person
has and can choose to ha$e  his
includes all the pro7ects that a
human person can set for himself to
accomplish in the future
 A )ein1 in the World
9 /alleness- is the state of a human
person %hen he,she li$es in an
inauthenc existence, referrin+ to
the kind of e"istence in %hich a
human person is not the one
makin+ decisions for himself
Transcendence and imita.ons
Ac.it*
HM>LESS L/E- n C$e
minutes list do%n the thin+s
you cannot do because you are
thumb-less and the thin+s you
can  do e$en if you are thumb-
less
Transcendence and imita.ons
2uide -ues.ons 3HM>LESS L/E)
1 Ho% do you feel about yourself aDer failin+ to do
some ac#$i#es that you normally do easily?
! 4id you appreciate the importance of your
thumb?
& When there are s#ll thin+s you can do e$en
%ithout your thumb did that chan+e the %ay you
fell about yourself?
9 4o you a+ree if someone says that %ithout your
thumb your life is as not as human as it should
be?