THE PERSON AS

BODY AND SOUL

Aquinas, q. 29, 9.3

States that a person is an

individual of a rational nature.
As a substance, a person is a
being and therefore, he/she
exists.
St. Thomas Aquinas, following the idea of
a Roman Philosopher Boethius.

Other types of being like qualities such as a color,

size, weight, or relations such as fatherhood exist not
through their own capacity but through the capacity
of others.
For example:
The color RED is not exist on its own; it
will need another object such as a ball in
order to exist. This is why you see color
red on a ball.
Human Rational Nature
The HUMAN RATIONAL NATURE comes
from the fact that each one has his/her spirit
or soul. In the physical world, the human
person is the only being who has a spiritual
nature or has a rational soul or spirit.
Hylomorphic Analysis
St. Thomas of Aquinas explain this union of the
body and spirit through the HYLOMORPHIC
ANALYSIS. The word hylomorphic comes from
the Greek “HYLE” means “MATTER” and
“MORPHE” means “FORM”. The soul is the
form, while the body is the matter.
Like any other hylomorphic creature, there is a
substantial union between matter and form or the body
and soul.

This idea follows the philosophy of Aristotle who stated

that the soul is the substantial form of the body. The soul
animates the body; it makes the body move and act. The
soul is the principle of life and activity of the human
being.
Both the body and spirit have their respected
powers or capacities. The soul/spirit operates
through the mediation of the faculties which
are based on the organs of the body. The soul
provides the physical or biological component
of the man.
The two greatest powers of the spirit are intelligence
and rational volition. Intelligence operates through the
use of reason or intellect and rational volition operates
through the will. It is through the reason and will that
the spiritually of the human person is manifested or
actualized and through which he/she realizes
him/herself.
Wojtyla 1993, 168
The whole psychological and moral
personality takes shape based on the
activities of the reason and will.

(Karol Wojtyla now known as St. John Paul)