The Human Person as an Embodied Spirit
Summary
TLDRThis lecture explores the concept of the human person as an 'embodied spirit,' emphasizing the inseparability of body and soul in Christian philosophy. It contrasts Plato's metaphysical dualism, where the immaterial soul is superior to the material body, with Aristotle's view of the soul as the life principle inherent in the body. Aristotle's hierarchy of souls—vegetative, sensitive, and rational—culminates in humans, who uniquely possess the capacity for thought, encapsulated by his assertion that 'man is a rational animal.'
Takeaways
- 🧠 The concept of 'embodied spirit' refers to the inseparable union of body and soul in Christian philosophy, emphasizing that the human person is a convergence of material and spiritual entities.
- 📚 The term 'embodied spirit' does not simply mean the materialization of an immaterial spirit but signifies the integral connection between body and soul.
- 🤔 Understanding the human person as an embodied spirit is crucial as it reveals our potentialities and limitations, offering a deeper self-understanding.
- 📖 Aristotle's view of the human person as an embodied spirit counters Plato's metaphysical dichotomy, arguing for a unity of body and soul rather than their separation.
- 🔄 Plato's perspective sees the body and soul as inherently contradictory, with the soul being immaterial and the body material, suggesting the soul's existence is independent and prior to the body.
- 🚫 Plato's account implies that the human person is essentially a soul using a body, with the soul being the true self and the body a mere vessel.
- 🌿 In Plato's philosophy, the soul is believed to survive the death of the body and return to the world of forms, an immaterial and eternal realm.
- 🌱 Aristotle, on the other hand, views the soul (psyche) as the principle of life, with different levels of souls (vegetative, sensitive, rational) corresponding to different capacities for life.
- 🌳 Plants possess a vegetative soul, capable of growth, reproduction, and self-nourishment, but lack the higher levels of sensation and thought.
- 🐘 Animals have sensitive souls, which include the vegetative functions plus the ability to feel and sense their environment.
- 🧍 Humans are characterized by rational souls, which encompass all the functions of sensitive souls and the additional capacity for thought and reasoning, making them 'rational animals'.
Q & A
What is the concept of 'embodied spirit' as discussed in the philosophy of the human person?
-The concept of 'embodied spirit' refers to the inseparable union of body and soul, suggesting that the human person is a convergence of material and spiritual entities, where the body and soul are not separate from each other.
How does the idea of 'embodied spirit' differ from the notion of spirit as an immaterial entity?
-The idea of 'embodied spirit' does not necessarily refer to the incarnation or materialization of an immaterial spirit. Instead, it emphasizes the unity of body and soul, where both are interdependent and together constitute the human person.
What is the significance of understanding the human person as an 'embodied spirit'?
-Understanding the human person as an 'embodied spirit' is significant as it provides insights into our potentialities and limitations, and it offers a deeper comprehension of our unique nature as beings united by both body and soul.
How does Aristotle's view of the human person as an embodied spirit contrast with Plato's perspective?
-Aristotle disagrees with Plato's dualistic view, which suggests a metaphysical dichotomy between body and soul. Aristotle believes in the unity of body and soul, asserting that they are inseparable and together form the human person.
What is Plato's stance on the relationship between the body and the soul?
-Plato sees an inherent contradiction between the body and the soul, with the body being mutable and destructible, and the soul being immutable and indestructible. He posits that the soul exists prior to and is independent of the body.
According to Plato, what are the three parts of the soul and their functions?
-Plato divides the soul into three parts: the rational, the spiritual, and the appetitive. The rational soul is located in the head and is responsible for thinking and guiding the other parts. The spiritual soul, located in the chest, drives emotional feelings, while the appetitive soul, in the abdomen, drives physical wants.
What is the role of the rational soul in Plato's philosophy?
-In Plato's philosophy, the rational soul is the highest part of the soul and its role is to guide the spiritual and appetitive souls, enabling the human person to think, reflect, analyze, and make decisions.
How does Plato describe the human person's existence post-death?
-Plato believes that upon death, the immaterial and indestructible soul leaves the decomposing body and returns to the world of forms, where it exists eternally.
What is Aristotle's definition of the soul, and how does it relate to the concept of life?
-Aristotle defines the soul as the principle of life, suggesting that anything that has life has a soul. The soul animates the body, and for Aristotle, the soul is the form of the body while the body is the matter to the soul.
How does Aristotle classify the levels of soul, and what distinguishes the human soul from those of plants and animals?
-Aristotle classifies the levels of soul into vegetative, sensitive, and rational. The human soul is distinguished by its rational capacity, which allows for thinking and is present only in humans, in addition to the characteristics shared with animals such as growth, reproduction, self-feeding, and sensation.
Outlines
🧠 Embodied Spirit in Christian Philosophy
The paragraph introduces the concept of the human person as an 'embodied spirit,' a central theme in the philosophy of the human person. It emphasizes the need to define 'embodied spirit' to clarify its meaning, especially for those without a strong background in philosophy. The term suggests a spirit that is materialized or incarnated, but in Christian philosophy, it specifically refers to the inseparable union of body and soul. The human person is seen as a convergence of material and spiritual entities, with the body and soul being interdependent. This understanding is crucial for recognizing human potentialities and limitations and for a deeper self-understanding. The paragraph also sets the stage for engaging with Aristotle's perspective on the human person as an embodied spirit, contrasting it with Plato's metaphysical dichotomy of body and soul.
📜 Plato's View on the Human Soul
This paragraph delves into Plato's perspective on the human person, contrasting it with the concept of 'embodied spirit.' Plato posits a metaphysical dichotomy between the body and the soul, suggesting an inherent contradiction. According to Plato, the body is mutable and destructible, while the soul is immutable and indestructible. He argues that the soul is the true essence of a person, with the body being merely a vessel used by the soul. Plato's tripartite theory of the soul includes the rational, spiritual, and appetitive parts, each with distinct functions and locations within the body. The rational soul is considered the highest part, guiding the other two. The paragraph illustrates Plato's ideas with examples, such as a thirsty man avoiding polluted water and a man controlling his anger, demonstrating how reason can overcome desire and spirit.
🏛️ Aristotle's Critique of Platonic Dualism
The paragraph presents Aristotle's disagreement with Plato's dualistic view of the human person. Aristotle rejects the notion of a dichotomy between the body and soul, arguing instead for a unity where the body and soul are inseparable. He views the soul as the principle of life, with the body serving as the matter to the soul's form. This perspective aligns with Aristotle's broader philosophy that all existing things are composed of matter and form, which are inherently inseparable. Aristotle also introduces the concept of different levels of souls, with plants having a vegetative soul, animals having a sensitive soul, and humans possessing a rational soul. This hierarchy reflects the increasing complexity of life forms and their capacities, with humans being the most complex due to their rationality.
🌿 Aristotle's Hierarchical Soul Theory
This paragraph further elaborates on Aristotle's theory of the soul, distinguishing between the vegetative, sensitive, and rational souls. The vegetative soul is associated with basic life functions such as growth, reproduction, and nourishment, which are common to plants. The sensitive soul, found in animals, includes the vegetative functions plus the ability to sense and feel. Lastly, the rational soul, unique to humans, encompasses all previous functions and adds the capacity for thought and reasoning. Aristotle's famous dictum, 'man is a rational animal,' encapsulates his view that humans are distinguished by their rationality. The paragraph underscores Aristotle's belief in the unity of body and soul, contrasting with Plato's belief in their separability and the soul's pre-existence and immortality.
Mindmap
Keywords
💡Embodied Spirit
💡Inseparable Union
💡Materialization
💡Philosophy of the Human Person
💡Aristotle
💡Plato
💡Rational Soul
💡Vegetative Soul
💡Sensitive Soul
💡Matter and Form
Highlights
The human person is defined as an embodied spirit, a concept central to the philosophy of the human person.
Embodied spirit refers to the inseparable union of body and soul, contrary to the idea of spirit merely being materialized or incarnated.
The human person's embodiment is the convergence point between the material and spiritual, necessitating the union of body and soul.
Understanding the human person as an embodied spirit is crucial for recognizing our potentialities and limitations.
Aristotle's view of the human person as an embodied spirit is a reaction against Plato's metaphysical dichotomy of body and soul.
For Plato, the soul is immaterial, immortal, and exists prior to and independently of the body.
Plato's tripartite theory of the soul includes the rational, spiritual, and appetitive parts, each with distinct functions.
The rational soul's role, according to Plato, is to guide the spiritual and appetitive souls, ensuring a balanced personality.
Aristotle disagrees with Plato's dualism, asserting that body and soul are in a state of unity and are inseparable.
Aristotle defines the soul as the principle of life, suggesting that life and soul are inseparable.
The soul is the form of the body, while the body is the matter to the soul, according to Aristotle's hylomorphic theory.
Aristotle distinguishes three levels of soul: vegetative, sensitive, and rational, each corresponding to different capacities for life.
Humans possess a rational soul, which enables them to think and is the highest level of soul among living beings.
Aristotle's dictum that 'man is a rational animal' encapsulates his view of the human person as an embodied spirit with a rational soul.
Transcripts
the human person as an embodied spirit
one of the dominant themes in the course
introduction to the philosophy of the
human person is the idea that the human
person is an embodied spirit but first
of all we need to define terms here
because as it appears the meaning of the
concept embodied spirit is not directly
clear to students who do not have a
strong background and orientation in
philosophy and so what do we exactly
mean by embodied spirit the most direct
connotation that comes to mind when we
say something is embodied is that it is
being materialized or incarnated hence
when we say embodied spirit we normally
thought of a spirit being incarnated
however the idea of a human person as an
embodied spirit does not necessarily
refer to the incarnation or
materialization of spirit as an
immaterial entity the embodiment of the
spirit in the context of Christian
philosophy specifically refers to the
inseparable union of body and soul thus
when we say embodied spirit we mean that
the body is not separate from the soul
just as the soul is not separate from
the body so when we say that the human
person is an embodied spirit we
specifically mean that the human person
is the point of convergence between the
material and spiritual entities that is
between the body and
Sol we cannot talk therefore of the
human person without the union of body
and soul just as we cannot talk of
anything without the union of matter and
form now to understand the specificity
of the human person as an embodied
spirit is important because aside from
the fact that it enables us to know our
potentialities and limitations it also
exposes us to a thorough and deeper
understanding of ourselves as a unique
creature United by body and soul with
this caveat in mind let us now proceed
to an engagement with one of the most
famous philosophers in this particular
scholarship namely Aires total but
before we engage in Aristotle's account
of the human person as an embodied
spirit that is again as a union of body
and soul it is important at this point
to provide the theoretical context of
this issue as we may already know
Aristotle's account of the human person
as an embodied spirit is in large part a
reaction against playtest
take on the nature of the human person
for Plato the nature of the human person
is seen in the metaphysical dichotomy
between body and soul this dichotomy
implies that there is an inherent
contradiction between the body and the
soul on the one hand the body according
to Plato is material
hence it is mutable and destructible on
the other hand the soul is immaterial
hence it is immutable
and indestructible and as much as the
body is material mutable and
destructible while the soul is
immaterial immutable and indestructible
Plato contends that in the context of
the nature of the human person the
body's existence is dependent on the
soul while the soul's existence is
independent of the body in fact in the
tiniest play to argues that the soul
existed prior to the body Plato writes
the gods may the soul prior to the body
and more venerable in birth and
excellence to the body's mistress and
governor interestingly then as Eddy
Babur claims this contention made play
to conclude that the human person is
just a soul using a buddy
according to Plato there are three parts
of the soul namely they're rational the
spiritual and the epitome Plato tells
the myth of the charioteer to comprehend
the complex nature of the soul but we
will not discuss this topic here since
our task here is just to provide an
overview of Plato's account of the human
person which serves as a background to
Aristotle's account of the human person
as an embodied spirit for Plato the
rational soul is located in the head the
spiritual soul in the chest and the a
pet ative in the abdomen according to
Plato the spiritual and appetitive souls
contribute to the motion and activity of
the whole person while the rational
souls function is to
guide the spiritual and appetitive Souls
according to Plato the a pet ative part
of the soul drives the human person to
experience thirst hunger and other
physical wants while the spiritual soul
drives the human person to experience
abomination anger and other emotional
feelings lastly it is the rational part
of the soul that enables the human
person to think reflect analyse
comprehend draw conclusions and alike as
we can see the rational soul which is
the highest of all parts of the soul
guides the other two parts namely the a
pet ative and spiritual what else could
perform this guiding function from
places point of view than the rational
part of the soul think of a desperately
thirsty man in the desert he sees a pool
of water and approaches it with all the
eagerness that depravation is able to
create but when he reaches the pool he
sees a sign danger did not drink
polluted he experiences conflict within
his desire urges him to drink but reason
tells him that such signs usually
indicate the truth that polluted water
will make him very ill or may kill him
and that if he drinks he will probably
be worse off than he doesn't he decides
not to drink in this case it is the
rational part of the soul that opposes
his desire his reason guides him away
from the water
the principal then that drives the
person to drink is called appetite while
the principal that forbids the person to
drink the water because it is polluted
is called reason another example could
be that of a man who is angry with
another person who insulted him out of
anger he may desire to kill his
Schmucker but does not actually kill the
culprit because he knows that if he does
he will be imprisoned with the same
thread of reasoning Plato argues that it
is the spirit in man that makes the
person angry with his D writer yet his
anger is curbed by reason that is by the
rational soul hence again for Plato
desire spirit and reason make up the
sole desire motivates spirit animates
and reason guides and for Plato if
reason can successfully guide desire and
spirit then the human person will attain
a well-balanced personality if we recall
for Plato the soul exists prior to the
body
hence the soul is an entity distinct
from the body now it is important to
note that if we talk about the human
person we talk about the body and soul
and that they are inseparable but this
is not the case for Plato Plato believes
that the body and soul are separable in
fact for Plato has already mentioned the
human person is just a soul using a body
and Plato believes that the soul is
imprisoned in the body
that the soul survives the death of the
body because it is immaterial immutable
and indestructible this means that for
Plato when the person dies the body
decomposes while the soul leaves the
body and goes back to the world of forms
it must be noted that in plato's
doctrine of form there are two kinds of
worlds namely the world of forms and the
world of matter and for Plato everything
comes from the world of forms and
everything that exists we'll go back to
the world of forms after it perishes
again when the human person dies the
body decomposes and the soul will go
back to the world of forms and lives
there eternally it is here where
Aristotle's notion of the human person
as an embodied spirit comes in indeed
Aristotle disagrees with Plato's dualism
which implies the concept of other
worldliness hours total believes that
there is no dichotomy between the
person's body and soul the body and soul
for Aristotle are in state of unity they
are inseparable
hence unlike Plato Aristotle believes
that we cannot talk about the soul apart
from the body and vice versa now how
does Aristotle view the human person as
an embodied spirit first we need to
understand that the term soul is the
English translation of the Greek word
psyche and for Aristotle the general
definition of the
involves the concept of life thus the
soul for Aristotle is the principle of
life this suggests therefore that
anything that has life has a soul as the
principle of life the soul causes the
body to live indeed it is the soul that
animates the body if the soul is the
animator of the body the body acts as
the matter to the soul
hence Aristotle believes that the soul
is the form of the body while the body
is the matter to the soul for Aristotle
everything that exists is composed of
matter and form and matter and form are
indeed inseparable hence we cannot talk
about any object if either of these
entities is not present in the context
of the human person Aristotle believes
that body and soul are inseparable body
and soul therefore constitute the human
person as a whole because for Aristotle
anything that has life has a soul then
it follows that plants and animals in
addition to humans have souls
thus Aristotle distinguishes three
levels of soul namely that of plants
that of animals and that of humans the
kind of soul that is found in plants
according to Aristotle is called
vegetative while those found in animals
and humans are called sensitive and
rational souls respectively according to
Aristotle
Glantz have souls because they possess
the three basic requirements for
something to be called living being that
is the capacity to grow reproduce and
feed itself however plants do not share
the higher levels of soul although they
grow reproduce and feed themselves
plants are not capable of feeling and
thinking sensitive Souls grow reproduce
and feed themselves
but unlike vegetative souls sensitive
souls are capable of sensation as
Aristotle writes plants possess only the
nutritive Faculty but other beings
possess both it and the sensitive
faculty and if they possess the
sensitive Faculty they must also possess
the a pet ative for appetite consists of
desire anger and will all animals
possess at least one sense that of touch
anything that has a sense is acquainted
with pleasure and pain with what is
pleasant and with what is painful and
anything that is acquainted with these
has desire since desire is an appetite
for pleasant finally rational souls grow
reproduce feed themselves and feel but
unlike the sensitive souls rational
souls are capable of thinking according
to Aristotle this highest level of soul
is present only in humans now
since humans possess all the
characteristics of animals that is the
capacity to grow reproduce
feed itself and feel in addition to
being rational
Aristotle concludes that the human
person is just an animal that thinks as
Aristotle's famous dictum and the human
person goes man is a rational animal
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