Chapter 2

The Human Person:

An Embodied Spirit
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Learning objectives:
At the end of the lesson, you will be able to:
 To be able to understand and discover the nature of theself in answering the perennial
question, “Who am I?”
 To be mindful of the sanctity of the self
as a duality of SOUL and BODY
 To be able to apply this knowledge to
heir
t everyday living

I. Discovering the Self: Who Am I?

To fully discover and understand our inner selves, we should deeply reflect or introspect our
very core. In doing so, we are looking within or deep inside ourselves (at our soul or mind); for we
know that there is more to who we are than what we appear to be. Hence, our selves is not just
who we are on the outside but is much more about who we are inside.

More so, a human being is the source of many questions about the existence of the world and
everything that exists in it. In existence, human being is always in concrete situations, and he/she is
always confronted with various situations. These situations are

boundary situation which are inescapable and inevitable breaks of the ordinary patterns of human
existence, such as death, sufferings, conflicts, tragedy, sickness, failures, communication, struggles,
and guilt. Specifically, this context of limit situations, human beings begin to formulate critical and
perennial questions and search for deeper and existential answers of his/ her fundamental
questions concerning his/her self-being.

II. Various Ways in Dealing with the Question “Who Am I?” in the Course of History

a. Duality of Body and Soul

 The duality of body and soul is the view
held by those who believe that our body is
separate and distinct from our soul. The soul,
though conceived in many ways, is that aspect
of our being that is not material. The soul or
the spirit is philosophically discussed as MIND
since mental capacities and abilities are
attributed to it. Our body shows our
corporeality but we are more than our body
because we have a soul or a spirit.

Plato, an Ancient Philosopher, stated that

the human soul exists prior to the body and
even after the body is long gone. This doctrine
is connected to his theory of Forms where the
material realm (the world we know) is
separate from the eternal realm of forms or
essences (the world of ideas). The physical
world is made up of mere appearances or
copies of what is real. Such things are
destructible and illusory,
hence, unreliable. Knowledge is to be found in the realm of ideas or essences which are eternal and
true. The soul that humans possess preexisted in the world of forms or ideas. This is why the soul is
immortal and learning is mere remembering or recollecting what the soul once knew when it was in
the realm of forms.

Furthermore, Rene Descartes also recognized dualism, as expressed in his Meditations (2nd),
that he exists because doubt requires a doubter. That he doubts is proof that he is existing. He
acknowledges that he is a body that is bounded by some figure and can be located in some place
and occupy space. However, unlike other bodies, he has the power to move himself, to feel and to
think. Such capacities and power is not present to all bodies and so must be attributed to his spirit
or soul. By ‘thinking being’, Descartes claims is that which doubts, which understands, which
conceives, which affirms, which denies, which wills, which rejects, which imagines also, and which
perceives.

b. Unity of Body and Soul

 St. Thomas Aquinas, a Medieval Philosopher, had stated about the UNITY of Human Nature:
that the body and soul are not two entities that interact with each other but are one being made up
of matter and form. Hence, the Soul is the form of the Body but not dependent upon the body as
the body is upon the soul. And as he furtherly stated, “A Person is a physical substance
underscored the substantial unity of human nature.” Thus, Human beings are a unity of Body and
Soul. Without the Soul the body would have no form. Without the Body the soul would not have its
required organs of sense through which to gain its knowledge.

c. Human Consciousness and Existence

Man isn’t just simply about duality and unity of the soul
and body. Man is mindful of his existence and is also conscious
of the reality where he is into. In connection to this, John
Locke, an English philosopher and political theorist,
connotated that, as a thinking being, the SELF we refer to
consists of those thoughts and sensations of which we are
conscious of (that is, something we are aware of). In addition,
Immanuel Kant, as interpreted by philosophers of mind,
provided a basis for a rationalistic approach by stating that the
self is a rational agent who can know their own thoughts and
attitudes, and be responsible for them. Thus, making the man
conscious of his existence and presence in this world.

With regard to Man’s existence, Phenomenologists philosophize that consciousness is thought

(of a subject) that is always directed toward an object. However, Existentialists, on the other hand,
confronts the possibility that the “I” might have been
someone else or might not have been at all. Thus, it is clear that our mind presents phenomena that are
distinct from those experienced by our body. We can visualize pain and experience despair, for instance,
without a physical cause. We have reasons to believe that who we are cannot simply be reduced to our
corporeality and yet we do not fully know or even understand the workings of our mind/soul.

d. Human Faculty of Reason

Being conscious and mindful of His existence in this world, Humans have a mental faculty or
capacity that enables them to think, to reason, to understand, to compare, to analyze, to associate
ideas, and so on. The scope and power of reason remain problematic because entire philosophies
 have been created and built depending on how reason is defined or characterized by different
philosophers. The rationalists and the empiricists both agree that there is a human faculty called
reason.

More so, Rationalists discover truths by sitting and thinking while the empiricists discover truth
using their senses or by observing the world. The rationalists seek knowledge by grasping necessary
truths and necessary connections—truths that do not depend on man. However, Empiricists also
seek for truths outside of man by looking at sense data. There are also skeptics in between. Reason
is contrasted by some from faith; while others would claim that reason includes the heart.

The important point, however, is that human being possesses a faculty that enables him/her to
survive and endure life. His/her reason is a function of his/her mind or his/her soul. The more that
human being uses his/her reason to reflect and to deliberate things; the more his/her life becomes
fruitful, satisfying, and meaningful.

III. Reflection on My Body

Gabriel Marcel, a French Phenomenologist Philosopher stated that, “Man’s embodiment is not
simply a datumn alongside other data but the primary datumn that is the starting point and basis
of any philosophical reflection.” Thus, this reflection clearly meant as “remembering,” which
means paying attention to one’s own thought s then studying the very value of one’s existence and
is shown to be in intimate relationship with experience. More so, Experience implies Reflection,
that experience is more than the simple meeting of the self (inside) and sense data of world
(outside). Experience thus implies not just a juxtaposition of perceiver and perceived but a
meaningful and creative relationship between the two, a dialectic. Hence, it specifically means that
“Experience and Reflection do not just touch, they meet!” because reflection is basically rooted in
experience.

Furthermore, this Reflection connotes two aspects: Primary and Secondary. Thus it means:
 Thus, in the perennial question, “Really, who AM I?” ‘I’ and ‘AM’ have to be reflected upon.
The definition of ‘I’ depends on what we understand by ‘AM’, a verb of existence ‘to-be’. Marcel
has led us into a reflection on our way of be-ing, on our personal existence. It is related to “How I
AM” where we can more accurately see ourselves be!

a. The Relation of I and the Body

In the phenomenon of the BODY, we have regarded the body as an object. Object of our
interest, attention, object of our reflection. In asking about our BODY, we refer to our EXPERIENCE.
The BODY is something which the person who owns it uses. It is an instrument and a possession.
“MY BODY, then is something I own. It is something I use. It is something I HAVE.” We now arrive
at the most peculiar and a most wonderful relationship between my body and me: I not only HAVE
a body; I AM this body!

b. I have my Body and I am My Body

Gabriel Marcel popularized these two ways of looking at one’s body: as an object of possession
and as a subject of unity. It is the I made flesh. A meaningful existence cannot discard the view of “I
am my body.” And with the relationship of the I and the Body, I cannot detach my body from
myself; they are not two things that happen by chance to be together, rather, myself is absolutely
embodied. I cannot reduce my self to my body: I also experience my self as an I-spirit and will that
can never be imprisoned in my flesh and bones. The experience of my BODY: I have my Body and I
am Body.

c. Transcendence and My Body

As the appearance and

expression of my
subjectivity, my body has a
unique value and dignity.
Every time my body relates
with other embodied beings,
I am directly and
immediately relating with
other subjectivities or with
I’s. Thus, this i t directs me
not only to the world and
others but also to a
Transcendent Being, which
is God. I only encounter the
Transcendence because my
body encounters it. Thus, in my relationship with the Transcendence, I can only relate with this
Being through my body.

d. My Self and the World

The BODY is the most obvious part of us. Through it and with it, we relate to and within the
world. At the same time, because of it, the world manages to relate to and with us. When we speak
of existence, we also mean the sensual nature of existence: (1) We are bodies, (2) Among other
Bodies. Thus, making my body related to the World as: (1) Intermediary, and (2) Intersubjectivity.
Answer the following:

1. Compare the views of Aristotle and St. Thomas Aquinas concerning the nature of the human
soul.
Aristotle view is the actually of a body that had life, in where life means the capacity to grow
and to reproduce. St. Thomas Aquinas is human beings are a unity of body and soul. Without
the humans soul their is the body has no form and without the body the soul has no organs to
function. In Aristotle side he determine the capacity of life and in St. Thomas Aquinas side is he
determined the function or use of the humans body and soul.
2. What are the objections to the notion that the soul subsists?
The objection to the notion of the soul subsists are the soul is the moving principle of the body,
the soul were not a body it could not have knowledge of corporeal things, and the soul moves
the body, it seems that the soul must be a body.

3. Why is the soul incorruptible according to St. Thomas Aquinas?

The soul incorruptible according to St. Thomas Aquinas because the soul is capable of existing
from the living even after the death of the body.
4. Do you think there is a need to know what properties are we made of? Defend your
positions.
Yes, because there are people that question their existence and there are people that is
suffering from mental illness and want to end their lives, those people need to know what
properties are we made of. For them to just trust the process of suffering, failure, and
heartache. Because I believed that God has a plan for all of us.

5. Are you for or against the view of Aristotle and St. Thomas Aquinas about the soul?
No.

6. If you think of a symbol for the soul, what would that be and why?
If will think of a symbol for the soul it would be smoke, because the smoke easily disappeared but the
smell of it still remains just like the smoke of the katol or cigarette.
 In this lesson, I learned that the our soul can still exist even if after the death of the body. I
also learned is our selves is not just who we are outside but more of who we are inside.

 In this lesson, I will treasure what I learned because I know that my suffering will end. I
will surely apply what I’ve learned in this lesson in my life and teach this to other people.

1. Solomon, R. C., Higgins K. M. (2010). The Big Questions: A Short Introduction to

Philosophy, Eight Edition. Canada: Wadsworth, Cengage Learning.
2. Camiloza, L. G., et al. (2017). Philosophy of the Human Person. Quezon City: Phoenix
Publishing House.