Who Is the Human Person?

Who is the human person? You are probably wondering why there is a need ask such a question when
you know that you, yourself, are human However, you might want to pane for a while and contemplate
the answer to that question. For example, what does it really mean when we say "human person"?
Throughout history, philosophers have come up with explanations of who the human person is (This
kind of philosophical inquiry is ontological. Ontology is the area of metaphysics concerned with the
study of the nature and relations of being) This module will introduce you to the different explanations
or theories about the nature of the human person.

The Oxford Dictionary defines human being as "a man, woman, or child of the species Homo sapiens,
distinguished from other animals by superior mental development, power of articulate speech, and
upright stance. The qualities mentioned in this definition refer to the human being's physical and mental
traits. However, some philosophers would say that human beings are also spiritual, ethical, and
existential beings.

Why is it necessary to study the nature of the human person? Life as you know, is quite complex, thus,
you need to discover who you are, what you are capable of, or what you can become. Understanding
your nature will enhance your capacity as a human being to achieve your possibilities and help you live a
life fully worthy of a human person.

Human nature has three aspects: somatic, behavioral, and attitudinal. The first aspect-somatic-refers to
the body, material composition, or substance of a human person. It is a view that stems from the
advances made in science and biology which state that all functioning of consciousness are reduced to
one principle: matter-that is, a human person in the last analysis is a material creature, which consists of
his or her physical body only. In this view, any interpretation of what happens to the human person is
physiological.

The behavioral aspect refers to the human person's mode of acting in the study of human behavior, BF
Skinner, an American psychologist known for the theory of behaviorism, stated that any condition or
event which may be shown to take effect on behavior must be taken into account. By understanding and
analyzing these conditions, behavior may be predicted. He therefore suggested that human behavior
may be manipulated or controlled. In effect, if the nature of the human person is behavioral, the human
person acts in accordance to his or her condition as a human distinctly unique from any other beings-
irrespective of culture, religion, or race.

The attitudinal aspect of human nature refers to the human person's inclinations, feelings, ideas,
convictions, and prejudices or biases. Attitude is a person's mental reactions to stimuli or tendency to
act. It is a certain inclination, bias, or disposition toward a certain type of activity. These tendencies may
define a person's future actions and what he or she values as right and wrong. For example, if you were
brought up by a family who believes that it is necessary to work abroad to earn a better income, your
first action regarding your career may be based on this belief that the career path you will choose will
most likely be that which is in greater demand in a foreign country. The attitudinal aspect reveals the
importance of the attitude toward a behavior or action done or to be done by a human person.

It must be noted that these aspects are separable, and the discussion which will follow will emphasize
how each perspective can clarify your understanding of who the human person is

Theories on Human Nature

The Human Person as an Immortal Soul

One important theory on human nature is the claims that the human person has a soul. But the nature
and function of the soul has been a concern for philosophers since the time of the ancient Greeks. In
Phaedrus, one of the dialogues of Plato, Socrates asserts that

"Every soul is immortal, for that which moves itself is immortal, while what moves, and is moved by
something else stops living when it stops moving this is the very essence and principle of a soul, for every
bodily object that is moved from outside has no soul, while a body whose motion comes from within,
from itself does have a soul."

Thus, the human person, in the Platonic account, has an immortal soul which is the source of movement
(or has the capacity to have motion coming all from the inside) Therefore, you, as a human person, have
a soul because you are moved from within. No outside force compels you to have life or to have motion.

Moreover, the soul is deemed immortal. This implies that the soul, since it is the source of movement, is
something that is, in itself, necessarily uncreated and immortal, because if the soul is itself created, then
it could not have been the source of movement.

The Human Person as a Composite of Body and Soul

The preceding section informed you that the self is an immortal soul. This section, meanwhile, will help
you understand that the human person is a composite of body and soul Aristotle, another leading
philosopher in the analysis of the human person, explained in his work. De Anima (1968), all the
capacities possessed by all living things. His theory is directed toward providing an account of these
capacities which naturally included human persons. Although this work is generally called Aristotle's
psychology, it involves the relation between the psuche (or soul) and the body.
But in order to understand this relation between the soul and the body. Aristotle distinguished three
kinds of substance: matter, shape or form, and the product of both (composite of form and matter). He
added that of the kinds of substance, there are natural bodies which have either life or do not have life.
If the natural body has life, it is meant to have self-nutrition and growth and decay. Hence, every natural
body which has life in it is a substance in the serve of a composite. This expresses the first kind of
substance means your natural body is matter. As a corporeal being the human person is material which
is an affirmation of the somatic aspect of human nature-the human body has organs which are so well
organized and ready for their different functions for nutrition and growth.

Aristotle further claimed that the soul is another kind of substance, it is not a body but the form of a
natural body that has life potentially within it (This means that the natural body is "ensouled", that is,
you are with a soul, a noncorporeal substance that is the form which is the actuality of the substances.
For Aristotle, life, or having a soul, is the source of a human person's being alive which enables him or
her to do actions or activities that are suited to being a human person. In effect, he is saying that the
body cannot be separated from the soul, because the soul is the form of the natural body. The soul is
what makes the natural body which is a potentiality that becomes an actuality. This theory implies that
without the soul, the body does not have life.

The Human Person as a Thinking Thing

While Plato believed that the human person is an immortal soul and Aristotle claimed that the human
person is a composite of body and soul, René Descartes asserted that the human person is a thinking
thing. Consider the following passage:

On the one hand have a clear and distinct idea of myself in so far as am simply a thinking non-extended
thing that is a mind and on the other hand I have a distinct idea of body, in so far as this is simply an
extended nonthinking thing. And accordingly, it is certain that I am really distinct from my body, and can
exist without it

Rene Descartes

In the passage, Descartes asserts that the mind is a thinking thing distinct and unextended; and that the
body is a nonthinking thing-distinct and extended, and that his reality is how distinct he is from the
body, and he can exist without it. Descartes's assertion is a philosophical perspective which believes that
the nature of man is pure mind. This perspective states that there is a clear and distinct idea of a
consciousness that through the mind, one thinks of the self existing without extensions. However, even
though Descartes stated that there is a distinct idea of the body, he asserted that he can exist without
this simple nonthinking thing-that human nature is pure mind and having a body is an accident. This
assertion presents an idea that you can have recognition of what you are through thinking alone. The
guarantee is the qualification that your idea of yourself is clear and distinct

There is a great difference between the mind and the body inasmuch as the body is by its very nature
always divisible while the mind is utterly indivisible. For when I consider the mind, or myself in so far as I
am merely a thinking thing. I am unable to distinguish any pants within myself understand myself to be
something quite single and complete By contrast, there is no corporeal or extended thing that can think
of which in my thought cannot easily divide into parts and this very fact makes me understand that it is
divisible This one argument would be enough to show me that the mind is completely different from the
body

- Rene Descartes Meditation VI

In the given passage. Descartes claims that the mind is indivisible, while the body is divisible into parts.
What does the claim imply about the nature of humanity? As a thinking mind, it is clear that as you
doubt your existence as a singular self, you will always arrive at the distinct idea that you are, indeed,
one self because the mind is indivisible. On the contrary, if the self is a body. Descartes claims that since
it is divisible, it has parts. Hence, when you think about yourself, you might even be confused of your
nature because two different parts may both exist but are different in nature.

Now, if mind and body are of two different natures, how is it possible that they are able to interact? On
the one hand, the mind as indivisible may have an idea of a body with parts, but will the body with its
parts be able to grasp the idea of an undivided mind? If such is the case, then perhaps it is indeed, the
very nature of man—a thinking, unextended mind.

Answer the following questions:

1. How is human nature characterized as an immortal soul?

2. How is human nature characterized as a composite of body and soul?

3. How would you describe the human person as a “thinking” thing? Why?

4. Which of the theories in human nature do you agree with the most? Why?