Philosophy of Man Lecture

John Paul II: On Human Person

Prologue:

To begin with, let me give you just a simple background on the life and those influences
that shaped the philosopher pope’s notion of what and who a human person is.

The late Roman Pontiff, philosopher pope, Pope John Paul II who is now commonly
known as St. John Paul II, and considered as the Great was baptized Karol Józef
Wojtyła. He was born in Wadowice, Poland and as a young Karol, living just as a simple
kid, he was called Lolek.

His lifetime was covered with many controversies as regards his concern for humanity,
for human existence. He lived during the German invasion of Poland were vast
devastation of life covered their place brought by discrimination and war which torn the
sanctity of humanity. Para bang, unti-unting pinapatay ang diwa at kaganapan ng
pagiging tao at ng sangkatauhan, para bang unti-unting inaalis ang santidad na
nakakabit dito.

At that time, Poland was under the communist dictatorship. No wonder, the terror of
Auschwitz when people were being persecuted explains why he devoted his pontificate
to the cause man, the unity between man’s spiritual rights and his material needs. And
so, he urged the people to enrich their spiritual life through his series of lectures on the
theology of the body, of human love and of the meaning of freedom and responsibility.
These facts of his very experiences as an actor, a laborer, a soldier, a victim of war and
invasion, isang simpleng seminarista and a priest who became a pope, led him to his
great writings as fruits of his deep meditations and profound philosophical reflections
one of those is his magnum opus, “The Acting Person” aided by his series of lectures
now complied in a book called “Love and Responsibility” which became the very source
of our lecture.

Main lecture:

And so, let’s start the discussion by leaving two questions:

1. What makes man truly a “human person”? (an issue of fulfillment or alienation)

Ano ang angking realidad ng tao upang siya ay maging isang ganap na tao?

- ito ay usaping pagiging ganap o pag-iwan sa diwa at sentido ng pagiging

ganap na tao.

2. How does action shape man’s identity in the responsible use of his freedom?
(This is an issue of whether or not there is an identical relation between man and
his act)
 Anong karakter ang ginaganapan ng pagkilos ng tao, gamit ang kanyang
Kalayaan, upang hubugin ang kanyang sarili ng naayon sa ganap niyang
pagkakakilanlan?

- Ito ay usapin ukol sa pagkakaisa o pagiging iisa ng tao at ng kanyang

pagkilos.

3. How does man fulfill his being a “human person” in the intersubjective sphere of
his existence? (an issue of fulfillment or alienation as man lives among other
human beings)

Paano pinagiging ganap ng tao ang kanyang sarili habang siya ay namumuhay
kasama ang ibang taong tulad din niya?

 Ito ay usaping pagiging ganap din o pag-iwan sa diwa at sentido ng pagiging

ganap ng tao habang siya’y nakikipamuhay kasama ang iba samantalang
siya ay may kamalayan sa pag-iral ng iba na tulad din nya.

I. Fundamental/Essential features of man

The philosopher pope, describes “man as a land, he journeys across and that
he is on a pilgrimage of identity”. Parang merong isang lugar na dapat
patunguhan ang tao at ang lugar na ito ay tulad ng kanyang pagkatao at yun
ang tunay na pagkakakilanlan ng kanyang sarili.

Now, we may ask the question, who or what is man?

If you will remember our previous lecture on freedom, we have said that man
is a subject - reality that comes along with human consciousness. But in
Wojtyla’s view, man as a “subject” is also an “object”, not as an objective
something, but rather an objective “someone” that sets him apart or different
from mere things or objects.

Man is a “someone” or a “somebody”. When one person sees another, he

sees the other as another human person, a “somebody or someone”, “not as
something.”

Kaya nga mahalaga na we establish the identity of the Human Person. Ano
ang pagkakakilanlan ng tao?

Now, isa-isahin natin ang konseptong,

1. “Human” – man is fundamentally understood in the definition given by

Aristotelian Anthropology, i.e., “homo est animale rationale” which
means “man is a rational animal” – sapagkat ang tao ay may
 kakayahang mag-isip: o ipinaliwanag ito ni Boethius (Boethian formula) na
“persona est rationalis naturae individua substantia” which means
“individual substance of rational nature.” Ang tao ay may kakayanang
“mag-isip” at “umunawa.”

2. “Person” – the concept of man as a human person cannot be derived

solely by “cosmological reduction”, rather he is a unique and unrepeatable
reality - he is a “personal subject”. Ang tao ay hindi lamang
nauunawaan sa kanyang substansya at esensya na nakakabit sa
kanyang natura, kundi sa kanya ring angking kakayahang maging isang
indibidwal na may “kakanyahan” – kakayang gumawa at magdesisyon
para sa sarili. Man has a personal striving and the power of self-
determination.

He is “sui juris” – he possesses free will and therefore, he is his own

master
The philosopher pope also asserts that man is an “alteri incommunicabilis”
which means that “man is capable to decide for his own self. And
therefore no one can want for him.”

So itong dalawang konsepto na ito ang nag establish ng mga

pangunahing basehan ng pagkakakilanlan ng tao. At ito ay napaloob sa
ating natura, such as implied in our nature. “Nature,” ano nga ang
konsepto ng natura?

Nature

Etymologically, the term ‘nature’ is derived from the Latin verb ‘nascor’ –
which means to be born. Kaya nga yung mga Latin terms na ‘natus’ and
‘naturus’ means about to be born. So, sasabihin natin na ‘nature’ denotes
literally everything that is going to be born or is contained in the fact itself of
birth as its possible consequence. Sa madaling salita, nature denotes
something that is innate to the person – that person who exists, lives and
acts. Metaphysically, “nature” is synonymous to essence and means here
humanness as the source of everything that flows from such person – all
those or every human dynamism.

Now, in all of these things – the fundamental features of the human person
and his nature, what brings us to human fulfillment or otherwise his alienation
from himself?

Mahalaga sa pilosopiya ng philosopher pope, na kinikilala niya ang malalim

na karakter ng tao. Take note, sabi ng philosopher pope, “the cognition and
desire of each human person acquire a spiritual character and therefore
assist in the formation of a genuine interior life. Mas malalim at mas mataas
ang ating buhay kesa ibang bagay dito sa mundo as true in the different
 strata of man – man being the highest among material things in the world,
even higher than animals and plants.

At pinaliwanag pa niya ito mas konkreto at tiyak, sabi ng philosopher pope,

“this inner life means spiritual life which revolves around truth and goodness.”
– the moral implication of our existence is now at hand. There’s truth and
goodness somewhere there that we naturally strive for.

Accordingly, kaya nga, with these elements of spiritual life, we are compelled
to acknowledge the spiritual nature of the human soul and the peculiar
perfectibility of the human person. There is a value innate in ourselves – that
value of goodness. At ito ay kaya natin gawing ganap when we fulfill such
natural striving towards that value of goodness, i.e. to be truely good and to
possess goodness at its fullest. How? – through our life, the way we live, the
way live with others.

II. Man and his acts

Kase nga, man can attain his fulfillment through the way he lives and so
through the way he acts.

The philosopher pope asserts that “man reveals himself in action.” Human act
is identical inasmuch as we own our actions.

Wojtyila gives us two co-essential principles of the person:

1. Self-possession

First, by self-possession, the person is able to possess himself. Pwede

nating sabihin na I possess my [self] [my own ego]. Ako ang nag mamay-
ari ng aking sarili. Kaya nga sa kadahilanang atin ang ating sarili,
masasabi natin na we can determine ourselves – tayo ang gumagawa,
kumikilos at nasusunod para sa ating sarili. Sabi ng philosopher pope, “For
only things that are man’s actual possession can be determined by him;
they can be determined only by the one who actually possesses them.”

There’s a beautiful play of words here, “inaangkin ko ang aking sarili at

ako din naman ay inaangkin ng aking sarili” – man possesses himself but
is also that which is possessed.

2. Self-governance

By self-governance, the person is simply able to govern himself. Kung

angkin ng tao ang kanyang sarili, he therefore has the power to govern
himself. Siya ang nagbibigay direksyon para sa kanyang sarili.
Human Efficacy

Kaya nga papasok dito yung human efficacy – which means we have an
effect/effects on things outside of ourselves as well as lalong lalo na sa ating
sarili.

Kaya nga putok na putok sa Philo of man yung mga mahahalagang element
ng (unang-una ng) Consciousness – because we are aware of what’s going
on in ourselves or outside ourselves, we are aware of the reflective and
reflexive effects of such consciousness. [alam na alam natin yan] Ang
consciousness – ating sariling consciouness ang nagpapakita at
nagpapakilala sa atin ng ating mga pagkilos, pag-iisip at lahat ng ating mga
Gawain together with those implications brought about by our own actions –
lalung-lalo na ang moral na implikasyon ng ating mga gawa.

Gayundin ang Self-determination because we have that power to determine

ourselves by virtue of freedom endowed to mankind. Yes, tayo ay may
kalayaan, pero as opposed to Jean Paul Sartre’s concept of freedom as
absolute o Immanuel Kant’s freedom as pure, hindi absolute at hindi pure ang
kalayaang ito. Tulad ng konsepto ng philosopher pope, there is that living
concept that our Freedom teaches us to be responsible and therefore cannot
be anchored and equated to absolutism.

Malinaw ang sinabi ni John Paul II, about freedom sa kanyang reflection
“towards a just use of freedom” Sabi niya, by realizing freedom or free will, “ If
I am free, I can make good or bad use of my freedom.” And since the
proper object of the will and act is good, the philosopher pope continues with
the formula, “I may but I need not” or “I can but I do not have to.” In this
sense, freedom is not solely a power but an important principle for
discernment – that is, that the will ought to strive toward the good.

And by freedom and action together with our nature anchored in that inner or
spiritual life that revolves around truth and goodness we form a Dynamism –
our act is a Dynamic act. Kaya nga, the transition of the will from potency to
act is called to conform with such goodness and therefore brings the whole
person to his actualization. Hinihiling na upang maging ganap ang tao bilang
tao, kakabit nito ang pagiging ganap ng kabutihang nakapaloob sa kanya.
Kelangang abutin ng tao ang kabutihang nariyan lamang at gawin ito sa
pamamagitan ng pagbuhay sa kung ano ang potensyal at gawing itong
ganap. And that man striving towards his full potential, fulfills himself in and
with that goodness.

Paano mangyayari yun? There is what we call = Cohesion – ang Cohesion ay

isang metapisikal na pagsasanib – metaphysical synthesis of human person
and his action. There is a vertical transcendence, man and his act are two
entities that form a single, deeply cohesive reality. Sa madaling salita, ang tao
 at ang kanyang pagkilos ay nagiging iisa. Kaya, in cohesion, man gains his
identity – it’s either he fulfills/actualizes himself or the other way around. The
value of his actions affects his person. “An action reaches and penetrates into
the subject, into the ego, which is its primary and principal object.”

Kaya mahalaga din sa pilosopiya ni John Paul II and moralidad. Merong

dalawang natura ang moralidad: una, the axiological nature na siyang
nakatuon to what is good as opposed to what is evil. Pangalawa, the
ontological nature na siyang nagbibigay kaganapan sa buong pagkatao ng
tao sa kanyang pag-iral habang kanyang pinagiging ganap ang kabutihang
likas sa kanya.

By presupposing morality in human fulfilment, the values in every action leave

and imprint to the person, the agent of the action. According to the
philosopher pope, human actions once performed do not vanish without trace;
they leave their moral value, which constitutes an objective reality intrinsically
cohesive with the person and thus a reality also profoundly subjective.

And notably, to perform the action bring fulfillment but we have seen that the
true fulfillment of the person is accomplished not by a mere performance of
every action but by positive moral virtuality of the action. An evil action brings
a nonfulfillment of the acting person.

III. Man’s Fulfillment of Himself

The philosopher pope proposes that “man is an image of the other, and so he
becomes himself through the ‘other’, as the ‘other’ becomes himself through
him”. This concerns human intersubjectivity. Human beings are all subjects.
Each one is a subject as well as an object of him/herself.

We have said that ‘Human act is identical’ but at the same time, it is
relational. Human act is both identical and relational. There are two
movements, one is vertical (as to himself) and the other one is horizontal (as
to others).

Epilogue:

Man’s existence is a constant striving for fulfillment. He doesn’t have the

perfect intellect, he doesn’t have the perfect power to discern and he doesn’t
have the strongest volitional striving to do good. We fail. Worst of all, men
always fail and we fall to many mistakes even to the same ones as part of
human frailty, which we don’t have to make as excuses, because this is
definitely a constant striving.
Fulfillment seems to be difficult for man in the reality of his existence because
he is himself a battlefield that only he himself can conquer and that through
his diligent striving to self-fulfillment can he become a true victor. The difficulty
brought by his existence elevates man more fully to his upright dignity and
makes his existence much more valuable. Love is the central point.