Prepared by: CB Joan R.

Doyo, MCA, PhD

 THE HUMAN PERSON

 Aristotle and Boethius described man as

a rational being. As rational being, a
person is able to know, reason out and
apply what he knows.
 Estañol (2007) defines the human person
as having physical, spiritual, emotional,
and intellectual attributes.
 St. Thomas Aquinas describes the human
person having as having physical and
spiritual substance b ecause he/she has
a soul and is created by a Superior Being
with a divine purpose.
 Dictionaries define the human person as
a “self-concious animal”.
“The person is seen as more
than an isolated individual
body, but as a dynamically
interior person able to grow
deeply in oneself through the
others with whom he or she
communicates, therefore
seeing the person in terms of
relation to other persons.”
- Maritain
“any entity that has the moral
right of self-determination.”•
the kind of being that has the
moral right to make its own
life-choices and to live its life
without being provoked
interfered by others”
 the individual’s uniqueness
which cannot be interchanged
and therefore cannot be
counted
 a being that has certain
capacities or attributes
constituting personhood, which
in turn is defined differently by
different authors in different
disciplines and by different
cultures in different times and
places.
A person is a human
being or a corporation
recognized in law as
having certain rights
and obligations.
A person is a being
characterized by
consciousness, rationality,
and a moral sense, and
traditionally thought of as
consisting of both a body
and a mind or soul.
 the status of being a
person
 a controversial topic in
philosophy and law
 closely tied to legal
and political concepts
of citizenship, equality,
and liberty
CHARACTERISTICS OF HUMAN PERSON
EDDIE BABOR (2007) IN HIS BOOK, THE HUMAN PERSON: NOT REAL, BUT EXISTING, DISCUSS THE
SEVERAL CHARACTERISTICS OF A HUMAN PERSON, NAMELY:
1. Rational - A human person is a rational being. He/She is free to think and has
the capacity to reason and distinguish between right or wrong.
2. Free - A human person is born free. He/She has the freedom to do or not to do
things. However, every person is responsible for his/her own action.
3. Unique - A human person is unique. He/She possesses an identity that makes
him/her unlike any other person. Generally speaking, even if two persons have
the same characteristics and physical features, they are not the same because
each one has his/her own perception, and a different set of values and
priorities in life.
4. Social being - Every person is intrinsically a social being and cannot detach
himself/herself from another creature in the universe. By nature, he/she is
characterized by his/her relationships with other creatures, objects, or his/her
fellowmen.
5. Sexual - All living things are sexual by nature, but the uniqueness of expression
of a person’s sexuality makes him/her different. The expression of a person’s
emotions, attitudes, feelings, actions and thoughts in sexual activity best
exemplifies his/her uniqueness from animals.
CONSIDERING THE CHARACTERISTICS, AND THEIR DEFINITIONS, GIVEN ABOVE, IT CAN BE
DEDUCED THAT A HUMAN PERSON IS THE ULTIMATE EXPRESSION OF THE SUPREME BEING
THAT HAS THE FREEDOM, CAPACITY AND ABILITY TO REASON, REFLECT AND RELATE TO HIS
CO-EXISTENCE.
BIBLICAL VIEWS
 The human person has superiority and
dignity inherited from the Supreme Being.
 According to the book of Genesis, chapter
1, verses 26 to 27.
 Agbuya (1997) states that “He/She (human
person) is designated by God to exercise
dominion over other creatures in his/her
everyday use of freedom, search for
happiness, and openness to the world
around him/her. And what makes him/her
human is his/her being a true person,
which includes the special gifts and talents
of thinking, loving, longing for happiness,
and making decision. The human nature
was patterned after the image of God.”
  According to Protagoras, human person
PHILOSOPHICAL
is the measure of all things that exist
VIEWS
and of all things that do not exist.
PHILOSOPHICAL
VIEWS

 Furthermore, Plato
claimed that the
perfect human being
does not exist in this
world because what is
in this world is just an
imperfect copy of
humanity’s original self
in the realm of ideas.
 Parmenides posited that a person
PHILOSOPHICAL has knowledge of something that
VIEWS exists, for a person who does not
exist is nothing.
 A HUMAN PERSON
LIKE OTHER ANIMALS
HAS EXTERNAL AND
INTERNAL ORGANS. A
HUMAN BEING
BECOMES EVIDENT
WHEN HE/SHE
STARTS TO SHARE
HIS/HER THOUGHTS
AND IDEAS WITH
OTHERS.
MAGUIGAD
(2006) IN HIS
CONSERVATISM
BOOK,
PHILOSOPHY
OF THE HUMAN
BEING, LIBERALISM
EXPLAINS THE
DIFFERENT
PHILOSOPHICA
L VIEWS OF
THE HUMAN
SOCIALISM
PERSON.
THESE ARE THE
FOLLOWING: FASCISM
 The conservative view is not entirely
positive and definitely non-egalitarian.

CONSERVATISM
Some men contribute more than others
to society, and therefore, must be
rewarded and honored by the society.

All human persons may not be of equal

value to society: some men are intended
to rule, the rest to obey.

This is in line with one of the Confucian

ethical ideas which states that the
superior man must rule and the
commoner must bow before his authority.
 Liberalism has a more egalitarian view of
human nature.

It believes that all men are capable of reason

and rational action and have the capacity to live
satisfactory and productive lives if given the
opportunity.

Reason is common to all human beings and

this fact raises them above the level of beasts
and enables them to know the principles of
suitable living.

According to Mencius, “Every human being can

become a sage king, that is, anyone can gain
LIBERALISM the wisdom to rule.”
 In socialism, the human being readily engages in
cooperative social activities when given the
opportunity.

SOCIALISM

Unfortunately, this natural cooperative instinct is not

fostered when some people selfishly exploit other
people.

Marx believes that man is driven primarily by desire

for economic gains. In his Das Kapital, he considers
the human person as a social animal; if he/she fails
to relate actively with others and with nature, he/she
loses himself/herself and becomes alienated.
His/her drives lose human qualities and assume
animal qualities.
 Fascism holds that what
matters most is the country
itself. The human being can
prosper only when the nation
prospers; his/her fate is merely
secondary when it come to the
country.
FASCISM

Like the conservatives, the

fascists contend that some
human beings are naturally
and racially better than others.
CLASSICAL GREEK VIEWS
 An animal’s vegetative
sensory and rational
The early classical Greeks
element is integrated within
define the human person as
his/her being; thus he/she
“a rational animal.”
is a material (body) and
spiritual (soul) being.

As a sentient being, he/she

As vegetative creature, the
human persons needs to
have food to grow, develop
and reproduce.
needs sensory perceptions
to gain knowledge. As a
rational animal, he/she
needs the power of thought,
reason and cognition.
  Due to a person’s
nobility and his/her
special place in God’s
kingdom, it is through
him/her that the rest of
creation enter into a
dialogue and
relationship with the
Supreme Being.
 Because the human
person is given free will
to choose, decide or
shape his/her life,
he/she is always
responsible for his/her
action.
CLASSICAL GREEK VIEWS
  A human person is capable of
CLASSICAL knowing, loving and believing,
GREEK VIEWS which leads him/her to be fully
aware of his/her humanity.
SOCIOLOGICAL VIEWS

A perspective is a particular way of looking at

and seeing something.

Salcedo (2004) states that people look at this

social world or at the various ways that
human beings behave in a social way.

Hence when we talk about society or the

social world, we are really referring to the
behavior of human beings.
 1. Human persons are social animals. We need to
cooperate with others in some ways to create the
social world in which to live.
2. The human person’s social behavior is learned, not
instinctive. In this respect the argument is that we have
to learn, from the moment we were born, how to be not
just a human being but also a recognizable member of
COMMON the society into which we happen to have been born.
IDEAS ABOUT 3. To understand the human person’s social behavior, we
have to focus our attention on the groups to which
THE HUMAN people belong. These groups are many and varied, but
the largest group to which people belong is a society.
PERSON – SAN 4. Sociology is s discipline that looks into the totality of
JUAN (2007) the relationship in an individual’s life. Sociologists do
not restrict their studies to a single dimension of an
individual’s life (economics, politics, history, geography,
psychology and so forth). Although each of these areas
is significant and interesting in varying degrees, it is
only by looking at how these relationships affect each
other that we can arrive at a complete picture of
human social behavior.
NEEDS AND VALUES OF HUMAN PERSONS NEEDS
Maslow‘s Hierarchy of Need
 PHYSIOLOGICAL
LEVEL - THESE ARE
BIOLOGICAL NEEDS
SUCH AS FOOD,
WATER AND
CLOTHING. THEY
ARE THE
STRONGEST NEEDS
BECAUSE WHEN A
PERSON IS
DEPRIVED OF THESE,
THE PERSON WILL
ULTIMATELY FIND
WAYS TO FULFILL ITS
SATISFACTION.
 SAFETY - WHEN
PHYSIOLOGICAL
NEEDS ARE MET, THE
PERSON
TRANSCENDS IN
FINDING SECURITY
AND PROTECTION
FROM PHYSICAL AND
EMOTIONAL HARM
SUCH AS WAR,
SICKNESS, ACCIDENT,
ENVIRONMENTAL
CATASTROPHES ETC.
 SOCIAL AND
BELONGINGNESS -
WHEN THE NEEDS
FOR PHYSIOLOGICAL
AND SAFETY HAD
BEEN SATISFIED,
THE DESIRE FOR
AFFECTION,
BELONGING,
FRIENDSHIP CAN
BECOME ACTIVE.
MASLOW STATES
THAT PEOPLE SEEK
TO OVERCOME
FEELING OF
LONELINESS AND
ALIENATION.
 ESTEEM - THERE
ARE TWO ESTEEM
NEEDS:
THE SELF-ESTEEM
THAT INCLUDE
ACHIEVEMENT,
MASTERY,
CONFIDENCE AND
THE ESTEEM THE
When these needs are satisfied, the PERSON GETS
person feels self-confident and valuable FROM OTHERS.
THESE INCLUDE
as a person in the world. However, when RECOGNITION,
these needs are not met, the person RESPECT,
may feel inferior, weak, helpless and ATTENTION ETC.
worthless.
 THE TOP OBJECTIVE
IS THE NEED FOR
SELF-REALIZATION:
THE HUMAN BEING
WANTS TO BE ABLE
TO BE HIMSELF AND
TO PERMANENTLY
BE ABLE TO
EXPERIENCE INNER
PEACE, HAPPINESS
AND HARMONY. IT IS
THE HIGHEST FORM
OF MOTIVATION.
MASLOW
DESCRIBES THIS
NEED AS REACHING
THE PERSON’S PEAK
POTENTIAL.
Write your answer in yellow pad.
Submission on next meeting.

1. According to Philosophical
View, what is a human
person. Cite a specific
examples.

2. Why was the human nature

patterned after the image of
God?