Social Dimension By

Manuel B.

OF HUMAN EXISTENCE
Dy, Jr.

TOPIC'S OUTLINE:

The socius is different from the We gain entrance to this field of meaning in
neighbour. action, speech and art through our contact
with fellowmen.

We mean to say that in the zone
of self-project or self-
actualization, the human being is
socius---a fellow, a comrade,
together with others.
Thus, our existence is an existence through
others.
The fulfilment of being-with-others is primary
in our life and usefulness is only secondary.

Objections to the Sociality of Togetherness as a Focal Point of Values While

the Human Being. The thesis
that man is social in everything
is not that simple to maintain,
there seems to be human
activities that tend to show
otherwise.
it is true that human activity involves an
orderly field of worldly meaning which
contains a long common history and that we
gain access to this meaningful world through
our encounter with fellowmen, our being-
with-others is a value in itself.

Answer to the Objections, the Togetherness is a fundamental value of our

objections above presuppose human existence and other values assert
two things: first, that being themselves within this value.
social is being dependent or
undergoing influence of others;
second, that the influence of
others in my life takes place in a
deterministic manner.
In fact, our unfolding of
ourselves, our free self-
becoming cannot take place
without the influence of others.
What needs to be shown now is
that this orderly field of worldly
meaning in human activity
depends upon our fellowmen
and is in turn dependent upon
the human person.
The concrete possibilities that
we have for our self-project
and project of our world are
always connected with what
has already been achieved by
others in the past and in the
present.
As the field is activated by the
human person, we are brought
to life within the living encounter
with fellowman.
Many human activities manifest our need
for togetherness or the value of
togetherness.
In many occasions such as the fiesta, we
rise above utilitarian considerations and
parsimony in order to be with others.
Togetherness as a value in itself provides
the context for other values to assert
themselves.
Human existence is fundamentally social in
that (1) human existence has a historical
character, (2) we need others to enter into the
human world of meaning and to make it our
own, and (3) being-together is a
fundamental value which gives authentic
fulfilment in our life.