The Human

Person
as an
Embodied
Spirit
Prepared by: Sir Tophey
MMdBCS
 In a world where one is able to comprehend complex things extensively,
the question about what a person essentially is, remains to be puzzle. It is easy to
claim that everyone is gifted with intelligence to make decisions, impose judgment,
and possess consciousness and self-awareness.
Various thinkers have given people theories and explanations on the true
nature of humans which led them to a conclusion that there is something in them
that transcends beyond their mortality. They say that there is an “inner self” in
every human that gives him/her that sense of discernment: one that gives
a
him/her the power of will and intellect. This had led them to conclude that
person is an embodied spirit --- a being
possessed with a soul.
 THE NOTION OF THE SOUL
1. Pre-Socratic Thought
The thinkers of the past conceived the idea of the soul
as an integral part of a person.

Heraclitus, the father of universal change, believed

in the existence of the soul as an infinite part of a human
being. He believed that the soul is associated with fire, and
there is something in store for the soul the moment it leaves
the body.
 The same belief of Heraclitus was shared by the
Pythagoreans, the philosophers who believed that numbers are
the first principle, contending that a human being is a composite of
body and soul. According to them, the soul existed before the body
until such time when the soul committed sins, and it was jailed inside
the body as a punishment.
This particular belief became the driving force of the
Pythagoreans to work for the purification of the soul to liberate it
from being jailed inside the body. According to them, to achieve this
goal, one had to engage in highly intellectual activities. The
Pythagoreans also taught the transmigration and immortality of the
soul.
2. Socratic Dualism
Socrates believed that human nature is determined by
one’s soul. This principle is the focal point of Socrates’ philosophy,
viewing the soul as the center of moral life. Most of the accounts that
talk about Socratic thought describe his philosophy as ethics (ethical
philosophy).
According to Socrates, knowledge paves the way for the perfection of the
soul and enables a person to achieve the highest form of happiness. These are the
reasons why he advocated activities which are considered food for the soul,
something where knowledge could be derived. Since he identified knowledge with
virtue, Socrates believed that knowledge is the mainspring of all
virtues.
 Socrates also advocated the concept of self-mastery, which
puts premium to the soul over the body.

Self-mastery implies mastery of reason over the sensible

nature of a person. This notion of self-mastery gives a person a sense
of freedom that leads to a degree of happiness he/she is destined to
experience.

Also closely associated to his concept of the soul is Socrates’

notion of a daimonion or a divine voice inside one’s being that is
claimed to be guiding his/her actions.
3. Plato’s Dualism
Like his master Socrates, Plato also believed in the idea that
a person is his/her soul. He argued that the soul did not come into
existence with the body and it came to be prior to being joined in the
body. As the body dies, the soul survives; hence, for Plato, the soul
goes through a cycle of reincarnation or transmigration.
The most important concept in understanding Plato’s dualism
is his theory which claims that everything that exists has a
corresponding “form” or idea. For Plato, the soul is able to obtain
knowledge through remembrance of these forms.
 Plato described that the body is the prison of the soul, and that
one must work harder to reach genuine wisdom to purify the soul.

Here are Plato’s four (4) arguments for dualism, as provided

in the dialogue Phaedo.

A. Life and Death (The Cyclical Argument)

This is the cycle of transmigration or reincarnation of the soul. When
the body dies, it paves the way for another body which means that if
life leads to death, then death must lead to life.
 B. Knowing is Reminiscing (The Recollection Argument)
This banks on the idea that all knowledge is a form of remembrance or
reminiscing on the part of the soul. According to Plato, since the soul
has pre-existed over the body, it becomes a witness to everything;
hence, the process of knowledge is recollecting on what had always
been there in the soul.

C. Incorruptibility of the Soul (The Affinity Argument)

It attempts to prove that the soul, arguing that it is capable to know
immutable and eternal realities, must be immortal.
 D. The Argument from Opposites

Plato believed that the body and soul are not only
different from each other, but they are also opposites
and irreconcilable. Claiming that the soul is the
essence of a person, Plato even considered the body
as the tomb of the soul, and contended that one does
not experience the true meaning of life as he/she is
stuck in the body.
4. Aristotle’s View on the Soul

Aristotle’s view on the soul is taken from his

hylomorphic doctrine of reality (hylomorphism), which banks
on the idea that everything is composed of matter and form.

For Aristotle, the soul is part of the body that animates

it---meaning, the soul is what gives life to the body. Hence,
the body and the soul are inseparable.
 Committed to the view that the substantial reality of human
nature is the union of body and soul, Aristotle assumed that every soul
has only one body. As the body is corrupted, so does the soul. The soul
does not survive death; hence, Aristotle dismisses the concept of
transmigration or reincarnation of the soul.

Aristotle also claimed that the soul is not a substance,

but a form that actualizes matter into a composite being. This
actualized being becomes the substance known as the
embodied soul.
5. St. Thomas Aquinas and the Nature of the Soul

St. Thomas Aquinas identified three (3) divisions of the soul:

A. Vegetative soul  is intrinsically dependent upon matter
(food, home, etc.) to survive.
B. Sensitive soul  is inherent to all animals, and is used
for sensation and locomotion.
C. Rational or Intellectual soul  is specific and exclusive
only to a human. Such soul is responsible for thinking and
reasoning.
According to Aquinas, humans possess all three kinds of soul.
 Aquinas contended that the rational/intellectual soul is the
highest form of soul as it enables a person to engage in highly
cognitive functions which transcend beyond the ability to retain ideas
through sensory perception.
He also believed that though the soul may work independently
of the body, it (soul) still needs the body to manifest its powers.
Without the body, the soul is an incomplete substance as it
cannot exercise its natural qualities. Thus, the rational soul can exist
without the body, but it cannot do anything without it.
The Human Mind:
The Link between the
Body and the Soul

Prepared by: Sir Tophey

MMdBCS
 The human mind is said to be the connection between
the body and the soul as it possesses potentialities and faculties which
are metaphysical in nature.
A human’s complex character is so advanced that it could
enable anyone to do things beyond imagination.

The mind is a mystery that is yet to be uncovered in the human

body. How would one explain the state of consciousness, memory, and
intelligence? These are attributes of the human mind that transcend
beyond mere brain functions.
 HERE ARE SOME OF THE
IDENTIFIED

FACULTIES OF
THE HUMAN
MIND
 MENTAL FACULTIES

Mental Faculties are, as the

name suggests, the instruments
by and through which the Mind
performs various functions and
tasks.
 PERCEPTION is the faculty of apprehension by the
senses. This is sometimes called ONE’S POINT OF VIEW. The
mental faculty of perception may be pertinently considered to
be relative.

There are similar objects that appear differently from each other when
viewed from entirely different perspectives. However, in as far as each
perspective is concerned, both seem to be correct.
 Is the glass half-full or half-empty?
• “Life is a creation of the mind." -
Buddha
• “There is nothing good or bad,
but thinking makes it so." –
Shakespeare
• “What you see is what you get."
 Is the glass half-full or half-empty?
The optimist says the glass is half full.

The pessimist says the glass is half empty.

The project manager says the glass is twice as big as it needs to be.

The realist says the glass contains half the required amount of liquid for it to overflow.

The school teacher says it's not about whether the glass is half empty or half full, it's
whether there is something in the glass at all.

The entrepreneur sees the glass as undervalued by half its potential.

The computer specialist says that next year the glass capacity will double, be half the price,
but cost you 50% more for me to give you the answer

The professional trainer does not care if the glass is half full or half empty, he just knows that
starting the discussion will give him ten minutes to figure out why his power point
presentation is not working.
 Is the glass half-full or half-empty?
The auditor first checks whether the empty half is material and then designs
the audit procedures to obtain sufficient evidence to conclude that the glass
is indeed empty.

The magician will show you the glass with the full half at the top.

The physicist says that the glass is not empty at all - it is half-filled with
water and half-filled with air - hence, fully filled on the whole!

The musician says he/she is unimpressed with the promoter of the concert
for not providing more alcohol.

The libertarian says: In a free country, it’s all about human agency; everyone
is free to make or purchase their own glass, fill it with what they like, and
see it as they please.
 Is the glass half-full or half-empty?
The adolescent student says the glass is just another dirty trick
played by the teacher to prove that students are dumb.

The opportunist says, "Thanks, folks! While you were debating

it, I drank it."

The marketing professional convinces the buyer that what's left

is more valuable than the first half.

The politician says that under the last government the glass was
half-empty, and becoming emptier, but thanks to his own party's
new leadership, the glass is definitely now half-full, and
becoming fuller; but if the other party were to return to power,
the glass would once again undoubtedly empty rapidly.
 Is the glass half-full or half-empty?
The problem solver says: Half-empty or half-full, the glass is not part of the
solution; it’s always part of the problem.

The pragmatist says: I’d rather have a glass half-empty than no glass at all.

The innovator says: No more half measures. We never do anything half

measure.

The sceptic says: I doubt both the existence of this glass and the validity of
this question.

The authoritarian says: I am the one who decides whether you can see the
glass as half-full or half-empty. Under me, seeing it either way is not a
matter of free will and personal choice.
Is the glass half-full or half-empty?

THINK.
DECIDE.
EXPLAIN.
 To illustrate further, some of you may view
things positively; simultaneously, others may view
them negatively. One may view an act as for the good
of all, while another may view it as a wrongful act.
But at the end of the day, you will realize that you
are simply referring to the same thing or idea, using
the mental faculty of perception in opposing points of
view.
There’s something not quite right about the
elephant. Can you see it? How many legs does it
really have?
• The elephant illusion is an adaptation of the original which
was created by Roger Shepard and published in his book Mind
Sights (1990, WH Freeman & Co).
• Shepard calls this type of illustration a Figure-Ground
Impossibility because it…
depicts what may at first glance appear to be something that
could exist as a real object in the three-dimensional world.
 The mental faculty of reasoning enables a person
to form conclusions and render judgments based from
facts and premises.

But one’s sense of reasoning is largely dependent on

the amount of knowledge he/she has gained all throughout
his/her lifetime, whether perceived by the senses or ideas
gained through education or other intellectual activities.
 In this era of technological advancement, one is frequently
exposed to a multitude of information coming from different sources.
The advancement of one’s sense of rationality (reasoning ability) is
due to exposure to different ideas, concepts, and studies conducted.

A person’s ability to reason is also the one that sets him/her

apart from the other species of the animal kingdom. He/She may have
been left unarmed in the evolution of life, but his/her reasoning ability
may serve as enough weapon to defend himself/herself from his/her
environment.
 Also known as the ABILITY TO VISUALIZE, the faculty of
imagination refers to the forming of images in the mind
(VISUALIZATION).
When a person is forming an idea in his/her mind,
he/she is creating an image corresponding to such particular
idea as to how it is in reality.
Imagination, when used profitably, enables a person to
create various circumstances that are beneficial to him/her.
For example, if a person thinks of an
animal - say, a dog - they don't particularly
think the word "DOG" - they almost
invariably form an image of a dog; whether
it be a dog they have encountered at some
previous moment in time, a dog seen only
as a picture in a book, etc.
 The power of imagination is considered one of
the most valued miracles of the human being, for it is
through the use of the imagination that great things
are created and invented.

It has paved the way for the advancement in

technology and the betterment of humanity. In short,
imagination has made innovation and invention
possible.
 Imagination enables a person to experience an
entirely different world inside the mind.
Here, one can create all the things that he/she
wants where the only limitation is imagination itself.
It also gives him/her the ability to explore
mentally the different dimensions which his/her mind
could create and experience, without being
constrained by the element of time.
 The mental faculty of the will is also known
as WILLPOWER.
It is defined by the German philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche as
an internally motivated action. It is the inner drive in a person that
enables him/her to do anything.
If mastered, the mental faculty of the will gives one the
courage to achieve his/her goals and aspirations. People who have
willpower do not give up easily, and are rarely devastated and broken
by failures and disappointments.
 Willpower gives rise to motivation, which in turn, fuels
ambition. It is the inner strength in a person that
moves him/her to act upon his/her desires.
It enables him/her to focus on something that he/she
wanted to attain. Hence, a person who has a strong willpower
is capable of accomplishing his/her dreams in life, not
because of sheer luck and favorable circumstances
surrounding him/her but because he/she can conquer all the
obstacles that try to hinder him/her from realizing those
dreams.
 With the mental faculty of the will, a person can
perform beyond what he/she expects himself/herself to do.

an
This is one of the mysteries of this faculty---

ordinary person can do

extraordinary activities through the
mental faculty of the will.
 Memory is one’s ability to retain, revive, recall,
and recognize information.
It is one of the most amazing wonders of the human
being, as there is no limit to the amount of information it can
store. It is said to be a two-way process---retaining
and recalling information---which means that
memory stores information inside the mind, and pulls them
back as the need arises.
 There are three (3) types of memory in the human
mind:

1. SENSORY MEMORY which enables a

person to recall perceptions. In this case,
memory is being used by another mental
faculty (imagination) in forming images of
things that one sees in reality.
2. SHORT-TERM MEMORY which gives a person
the ability to remember information without practice
for a short period of time.

3. LONG-TERM MEMORY which is the most useful

of all types of memory as this is the one that
undergoes training, practice, and mastery. Success of
a person is always attributed to long-term memory.
Introduction to the Philosophy
of the Human Person

THANK YOU!