THE HUMAN PERSON

AS AN EMBODIED
SPIRIT
“Man is not only body, but he is
something infinitely higher. Of all the
animal creations of God, man is the only
animal who has been created in order
that he may know his maker. Man’s aim
in life is not to add from day to day to
his material prospects and to his
material possessions, but his
predominant calling is from day to day
to come nearer to his maker”
[Mohandas Gandhi, 1948].
 To recognize our own limitations and possibilities it is right to
know where we are, what our world is.
• According to Plato reality is made up of two worlds namely, the world of Forms
and the world of Sense where human beings participate in both of these
different worlds.

• The world of Sense which is proposed and believed by Heraclitus, is the world
we see, experience, the world of objects; a world of change, it is made up of
matter and is bound to decomposition.

• Heraclitus proves this through the statements “Cold things grow hot, the hot
cools, the wet dries, the parched moistens.” and “We both step and do not step
into the same rivers. We are and we are not.”
• The world of Forms which is proposed by Parmenides who influenced Plato in this type of world is
a world that is eternal, perfect and unchanging.

• Parmenides proved the world of Forms by his statement “We can speak and think only of what
exists. And what exists is uncreated and imperishable for it is whole and unchanging and complete. It
was not or nor shall be different since it is now, all at once, one and continuous.”

ACCORDING TO PLATO:
• Reality is eternal and unchanging, it is the real world, the world of forms. Everything in the world of
senses is but an imitation or a mere shadow of the ideal.

• Human beings is a body and soul, according to Plato, body is evil for it is inclined to temporal things;
objected to temporal satisfaction and happiness.

ACCORDING TO ARISTOTLE:
• There are living things and non-living things. The soul is the characteristic activity of living things.
The body is alive if it has a soul. He stated that reality does not make sense or exist until the mind
process it.
ORIGEN
- A Christian theologian and philosopher that is also a
Platonian, he stated that “all rational beings were once
pure intellects in the presence of God, and would
remain so forever had they not fallen away through
Koros (satiety).”
- Because of koros (sin) or our transgression and
disobedience to God we are punished by being given a
body.
Human Composition

1.Monism- This theory holds that

man is composed of one basic
substance or principle as the
ground of reality. In other words,
the reality of man consists of a
single element, whether matter or
spirit.
Human Composition
2. Dualism- This theory holds that man is made up of
two irreducible elements—matter and spirit.
a. First View. Man’s matter and spirit are two
independent entities and they interact with each
other. As two independent elements, it is
possible for the spirit and the body to either
temporarily or permanently separate at a
particular period of time. This view was
supported / advocated by St. Thomas Aquinas,
Carl Jung and Sigmund Freud.
b. Second View. Man is matter-spirit.
c. Third View [Biblical View]. Man is made up of
body, soul, and spirit.
Man as the Living or
Metaphysical Paradox
1. Man as Finite and Infinite; Mortal
and Immortal
• “Man is flesh [and] spirit in divided
union” [Felix Montemayor].
• The flesh signifies material bodily,
tangible substance.
• The spirit or the soul signifies the
immaterial, non-bodily, invisible,
reality in man.
2. Man as Individual and Universal
• As a human being he shares the same
human nature with all other men, and is
therefore a universal human entity.

3. Man as Changing and Permanent

• The most undeniable fact about man is that
he constantly changes.
• Yet equally undeniable and indisputable is
that he remains unchanged by change.
• He remains the same before, during, and
after the change.
Three Main Spiritual
Philosophies:

1. Hinduism

2. Buddhism

3. Christianity
1. HINDUISM
• Is the belief in karma and reincarnation.
• Brahman is Self-Hood Hinduism lies the idea of
human being's quest for absolute truth, so that
one's soul and the Brahman or Atman (Absolute
Soul) might become one.
• For the Indians, God first created sound and the
universe arose from it.
• The Aum (Om) is the root of the universe and
everything that exists and it continues to hold
everything together, the most sacred sound in
which the universe arose from and was the first
thing God created.
Four primary values of Hindus:
Wealth, pleasure, duty and enlightenment.
• Wealth and Pleasure are worldly values, but
when kept in perspective they are good
and desirable.
• The spiritual value of duty, or
righteousness, refers to patience, sincerity,
forgiveness, love, honesty and similar
virtues.
• The spiritual value, though, is
enlightenment, by which one is illuminated
and liberated and most importantly, finds
release from the wheel of existence.
2. BUDDHISM
• Is the life experience and teaching of Prince
Siddhartha Gautama (Buddha -he who achieves his
aim), a tradition that focuses on personal spiritual
development, solutions is lay in his own mind and is
famous for its belief in Nirvana.
• Nirvana a place of perfect peace and happiness.
• Gautama's life was devoted to sharing his "Dharma"
or Law of Salvation; a presentation of the gospel of
inner cultivation or right spiritual attitudes.
• The Buddhist practice four states of sublime condition:
love, sorrow of others, joy in the joy of others and
equanimity as regards one's own joy and sorrows.
 Four Noble Truths leading to the Eightfold
Path to perfect character of arhatship
Gautama taught:
Four Noble Truths
1. Life is full of suffering.
2. Suffering is caused by passionate attachment
to desires, lusts, cravings;
3. Suffering can be ended by overcoming
attachment to desires.
4. To end suffering is the Noble Eightfold Path
Noble Eightfold Path:
1. Right understanding/belief in the acceptance of the
"Fourfold Truth"
2. Right intent/aspiration for one's self and others;
3. Right speech that harms no one;
4. Right action/conduct, motivated by goodwill
toward all human beings;
5. Right means of livelihood, or earning one's living by
honorable means;
6. Right endeavor, or effort to direct one's energies
towards wise ends;
7. Right mindfulness, in choosing topics for thought
8. Right meditation, or concentration to the point of
complete absorption in mystic ecstasy
3. CHRISTIANITY
• Is the religion based upon the teachings and miracles of
Jesus where there is only one God.
• For Augustine (354-430 CE), philosophy is amor
sapiential, the love of wisdom; its aim is to produce
happiness.
• For Augustine's Christianity, the revelation of the true
God, is the only full and true philosophy.
• St. Thomas of Aquinas, another medieval philosopher,
of all creatures, human beings have the unique power to
change themselves and the things for the better.
• His philosophy is best grasped in his treatises Summa
Contra Gentiles and Summa Theological. Considers
human as moral agent, the spiritual and material and
that choosing between 'good' or 'evil' is our
responsibility.