The Human Person as an Embodied Spirit

Summary

This 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

00:00

🧠 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.

05:01

📜 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.

10:01

🏛️ 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.

15:03

🌿 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.

Keywords

💡Embodied Spirit

The concept of 'embodied spirit' refers to the inseparable union of body and soul in a human person. It is a central theme in the video, contrasting with Plato's dualistic view of the human person. In the context of Christian philosophy, it signifies that the human person is a convergence point between the material and spiritual entities, where the body and soul are not separate entities but are united. This concept is crucial for understanding human potentialities and limitations and is used to differentiate Aristotle's perspective from Plato's.

💡Inseparable Union

The term 'inseparable union' is used to describe the relationship between the body and soul in the context of the human person as an embodied spirit. It emphasizes that the body and soul are not distinct entities but are interdependent, with each being essential to the existence of the other. This idea is pivotal in the video's discussion of the human person, as it sets the stage for understanding the human condition from a philosophical and theological standpoint.

💡Materialization

Materialization, as mentioned in the video, is the process by which something immaterial becomes material or takes on a physical form. It is related to the concept of 'embodied spirit' in that it suggests the spirit, which is often considered immaterial, takes on a physical form through the body. This concept is used to discuss the incarnation of spirit, although the video clarifies that 'embodied spirit' does not necessarily imply the materialization of an immaterial spirit.

💡Philosophy of the Human Person

The 'philosophy of the human person' is the study of the nature, essence, and existence of human beings. It is the overarching theme of the video, focusing on understanding what it means to be human. The video delves into various philosophical perspectives, particularly those of Plato and Aristotle, to explore the concept of the human person as an embodied spirit.

💡Aristotle

Aristotle is a renowned philosopher whose views on the human person are discussed in the video. He is presented as a critic of Plato's dualistic view, proposing instead that the body and soul are in a state of unity and are inseparable. His perspective is essential to the video's exploration of the embodied spirit, as it provides an alternative to Plato's metaphysical dichotomy.

💡Plato

Plato, another famous philosopher, is mentioned as a proponent of the metaphysical dichotomy between body and soul. His views are contrasted with Aristotle's to highlight the differences in understanding the human person. Plato's perspective is crucial for the video's discussion as it provides a backdrop against which Aristotle's ideas are examined.

💡Rational Soul

The 'rational soul' is one of the parts of the soul according to Plato's tripartite theory. It is considered the highest part, responsible for thinking, reflecting, analyzing, and guiding the other parts of the soul. In the video, the rational soul is discussed in the context of Plato's account of the human person and is contrasted with Aristotle's view of the soul as the principle of life.

💡Vegetative Soul

The 'vegetative soul' is the type of soul found in plants, according to Aristotle. It is associated with the basic life functions of growth, reproduction, and nourishment. The video uses this concept to illustrate the different levels of souls and how they correspond to different types of living beings, with humans possessing the highest level of soul, the rational soul.

💡Sensitive Soul

The 'sensitive soul' is the type of soul possessed by animals and humans, according to Aristotle. It includes the capabilities of the vegetative soul plus the ability to feel and sense. The video discusses this soul in the context of Aristotle's hierarchical view of souls, where the sensitive soul represents a higher level of life than the vegetative soul.

💡Matter and Form

In the video, 'matter and form' are philosophical concepts used by Aristotle to explain the composition of all things, including the human person. Matter is the physical substance, while form is the pattern or structure that gives matter its specific characteristics. The video uses these concepts to explain how the body (matter) and soul (form) are inseparable in the human person, reinforcing the idea of the embodied spirit.

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