SOME BELIEVE THAT HUMAN

PERSONS HAVE ONLY THEIR BODIES

WHILE SOME DO NOT. THOSE WHO
DO NOT BELIEVE SO, THINK THAT
HUMAN PERSONS ALSO HAVE A
NONBODILY COMPONENT.
REFERRING AS A SOUL, A MIND AND
 EACH TERM EMPHASIZES A CERTAIN
ASPECT OF THE NONBODILY HUMAN
COMPONENT.
•SOUL = EMPHASIZES LIFE GIVING
FUNCTION.
•MIND = EMPHASIZES ITS
CONSCIOUSNESS.
“THE POSSIBILITY OF THAT HUMANS
HAS SPIRITUAL COMPONENTS GIVE
RISE TO THE QUESTION OF WHAT
ESSENTIALLY MAKES UP A HUMAN
PERSON, OR WHICH COMPONENT,
THE BODY OR THE SPIRIT,
ESSENTIALLY DEFINES A HUMAN
THERE ARE
THREE POSSIBLE
ANSWERS.
•THE MIND IS NOTHING
BUT THE BRAIN.
•MENTAL STATES ARE
JUST NEURAL STATES OF
THE BRAIN.
•MIND-BRAIN IDENTITY
THEORY(SMART 1991) WHICH
CLAIMS THAT WHAT WE
NORMALLY CALL MENTAL
STATES SUCH AS OUR
THOUGHTS AND EMOTIONS ARE
•ANOTHER VIEW IN SUPPORT OF THE
UNSPIRITED BODY APPROACH IS
BEHAVIORISM.
•BEHAVIORISM STATES THAT
MENTAL STATES SIMPLY REFERS
TO THE INCLINATIONS OR
TENDENCIES TO SHOW CERTAIN
 BEHAVIORISM
P: BRUNO CUT HIS FINGER.
P: BRUNO CRIES.
C: THEREFORE BRUNO IS IN
PAIN.
DISEMBODIED SPIRIT VIEW
•MAINTAINS THAT THE
HUMAN PERSON HAS BOTH
BODY AND SPIRIT BUT
CLAIMS THAT IT IS THE SPIRIT
THERE ARE TWO SUPPORTERS OF
THE DISEMBODIED SPIRIT VIEW
NAMELY PLATO AND RENE
DESCARTES WHO BOTH BELIEVED
THAT THERE ARE TWO DIFFERENT
ENTITIES OR SUBSTANCES THAT
MAKE UP A HUMAN PERSON.
THIS VIEW IS OFTEN
CALLED AS
SUBSTANCE
 PLATO’S VIEW
•THE NATURE OF KNOWLEDGE IS
RECOLLECTION.
•SOULS ARE IMMATERIAL AS THEY ARE
NOT COMPOSED OF PARTS.
THEREFORE, THE SOUL CANNOT
DECOMPOSE THUS CANNOT DIE.
 RENE DESCARTES VIEW
•REALITY IS COMPOSED OF TWO
DIFFERENT TYPES OF SUBSTANCES
NAMELY THE MIND(NONPHYSICAL)
AND MATTER(PHYSICAL).
•MIND IS CONSCIOUS BUT NO
EXTENDED SPACE.
 EMBODIED SPIRIT VIEW
•HUMAN PERSONS HAVE A BODY AND A
SPIRIT BUT CLAIMS THAT THE HUMAN
PERSON IS ESSENTIALLY THE UNITY OF
THESE TWO COMPONENTS.
•THE BODY AND SPIRIT CANNOT EXIST
WITHOUT THE OTHER.
TWO STRONG
SUPPORTER OF THIS
VIEW ARE ARISTOTLE
AND ST. THOMAS
 ARISTOTLE’S VIEW
• REGARDS THE SOUL AS THE PRINCIPLE
OF LIFE.
• THE BODY IS THE PERSON’S MATERIAL
ASPECT OR “MATTER” WHILE THE SOUL IS
HIS/HER FORMAL ASPECT OR “FORM”.
• A SOUL IS A SET OR SYSTEM OF
 ARISTOTLE DOES
NOT BELIEVE IN
THE IMMORTALITY
OF THE SOUL.
 ST. THOMAS AQUINAS’ VIEW
• THINKS THAT THE RATIONAL SOUL OF HUMANS
HAVE DUAL NATURE.
• THERE IS A PART THAT IS DEPENDENT OF THE
BODY BUT THERE IS ALSO A PART THAT IS NOT
DEPENDENT ON THE BODY.
• BELIEVES THAT THE SOUL IS IMMORTAL AND
THE BODY IS MORTAL BUT MAINTAINS THAT A
HUMAN PERSON IS THE UNITY OF BOTH THE
WHICH OF THE
FOLLOWING VIEWS OF
WHAT IS A HUMAN PERSON
DO YOU PREFER? YOU
CHOOSE…