THE HUMAN PERSON AS

AN EMBODIED SPIRIT
WHO AM I?
Reasons why we need to know who we
are:

To know our potentials

To know our limitations
To know our abilities
By definition, a human being is a man,
woman, or child of these species homo
sapiens, distinguished from other animals
by superior mental development, power of
articulate speech, and upright stance.

What is a Human Being?

 Metaphysical Existentialist
Approach Approach
- Essential - Essential
components features of
of a human the human
person way of life

- “What?” - “Who?”

NATURE OF A HUMAN BEING

 METAPHYSICAL
APPROACH

UNSPIRITED DISEMBODIED EMBODIED

BODY VIEW SPIRIT VIEW SPIRIT VIEW
 Unspirited Body View

Human being is only composed of

“Body”

What Human Beings do (actions,

feelings, the way we think) is a
product of Biological process of the
Body

Human Being acts to a Pattern of

Behavior, called BEHAVIORISM

e.g. Hungry  Eat

 Unspirited Body View

Pattern of Behavior
• Behavior is the result of
stimulus – response
• 'To predict, given the
stimulus, what reaction will
take place; or, given the
reaction, state what the
situation or stimulus is that
has caused the reaction.'
 Disembodied Spirit
View

A human person is essentially just

his or her spirit. Body is non
essential component of a human
person. Body will die with no spirit.
Disembodied Spirit
View

BODY SOUL
Body
Soul is
depends
independent
on the
to the body
soul
 Substance Dualism
- is a variety of dualism in
the philosophy of mind which states
that two sorts of substances exist: the
mental (Soul) and the physical (Body).

- proponents believe that soul is

immortal while the body is not.
 Plato
Reincarnation-  is the philosophical or
religious concept that an aspect of a living
being starts a new life in a different
physical body or form after each biological
death.

The soul is confined to a body. While

encumbered by the body, the soul is
forced to seek.
 Plato

For Plato, Soul is not a material thing

and does not have parts so it can not
be destroyed or die
Rene Descartes

Matter and Mind

Matter is the physical part of
the person which unable to act
alone, it needs the Mind to act

“Methodic Doubt”
-doubting the truth of
everything
-doubting is a manifestation
that we are thinking

” I think therefore, I am”

 Embodied Spirit View

Unity of his or her body and

spirit. Human person as both but
claims to be the unity of body and
spirit. Nothing but the other
Aristotle

“Matter” and “Form”

(BODY) (SOUL)

A soul is a system of
capacities that give life
to something.
 Three Divisions of Soul

VEGETATIVE SENSITIVE SOUL RATIONAL SOUL

SOUL

- Plants have a - all animals, -human beings

vegetative soul. irrational and
- he power that rational (human) - responsible for
allows for basics of reason and
existence– - sensation and thinking
nourishment, perception and
growth, movement -Has the
reproduction characteristics of
- has the vegetative and
characteristics of sensitive soul
vegetative soul
ST. THOMAS AQUINAS

Vegetative and Sensitive Soul is mortal

while the Rational Soul is immortal

When the body dies and releases it soul,

it cannot be called a Human Being