PHILOSOPHY OF THE HUMAN PERSON
University of San Agustin AY: AY: 2014-2015: First First Semester
CHAPTER 2: INTERPERSONAL DIMENSION Lecture 1A: The Human Person as a Social ein!
Human Person as a Social ein! Our aim in this chapter is to understand the interpersonal aspect of man. This chapter chapter talks about the relatio relational nal aspect of man, that man "oes not e#ists alone $ut he al%a&s e#ists %ith others in the %orl" . This pheno phenomenon menon descr describes ibes man man as a social being. Man must learn to come to exist along with others. No man is an island as the popular saying goes. Being social is innate in man. Man needs to be with others as Martin e#istence %ith Heidegger says, Human e#istence is not an alone e#istence $ut an e#istence others'( Man, Man, who who is a pers person on,, ne!e ne!err re!ea e!eals ls hims himsel elff in isol isolat atio ion n but but alwa always ys in his his togetherness with others. The unconcealment of a human person"s uni#ueness always happen happens s in the conte context xt of others others.. The The fact fact is that human e#istence is al%a&s an e#istence e#istence o) relationshi*. Man is ne!er alone in his existence in the world$ man"s exis existe tenc nce e is alwa always ys a being being with% with% exist existenc ence. e. &e become become more more fully fully human human in our our relat relation ionsh ship ip with with others others.. 'or 'or Heideg Heidegger ger (asein (asein )man* )man* is not an isola isolated ted self, self, but is absor absorbed bed in relat relation ionshi ship p with with others others.. He also also shows shows that we are are always always born born into into a community, and our understandings, tastes, and opinions are formed in that community. Heidegger recogni+es that birth takes place in social setting. +e "o not come into the %orl" $& oursel,es . &e are brought into the world in the context of the community. &e are always already with others. Man is in the process of making himself and he needs other people in this process, one cannot fully know himself without the others around him. Other people make man aware of who and what he is. ociali+ing does not only happen for the sake of making it $ein!-%ith-ot th-others hers is not acci"en acci"ental tal $ut essentia essentiall . The intrinsic happ happen en.. Man as $ein!-%i intrinsic nature of man could mean that e!en when man thinks that he does not need others )which causes him to withdraw from others because they ha!e nothing to do with him*, still man does not stop to be social since such attitude is -ust a pri!ati!e mode of man"s beingwith.% /ristotle, the 0reek philosopher writes "Man is a social animal. He who lives without society is either a beast or God". Thus, man is by nature a social animal. He is born in society, society, li!es in society society and dies in society society. Societ& is in"is*ensa$le )or man . Man cannot li!e as man, without society. 1solation from society is regarded as a punishment. Solitar& li)e is un$eara$le )or him' Social li)e is necessar& )or man . The instinct for some form of social life is innate in human being. Man can be called a social animal for the following reasons2
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PHILOSOPHY OF THE HUMAN PERSON
University of San Agustin AY: AY: 2014-2015: First First Semester
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Man is social $& nature 2 Human nature is such that it cannot but li!e in society. Man3s nature impels him to li!e in society. The human child is endowed with some latent latent capacitie capacities. s. Human #ualities #ualities like like capacity capacity to learn learn language language,, en#uire en#uire and think, play and work ,help or harm others, etc. are de!eloped in human society only. These capacities grow through social interaction with others. One cannot de!elop into a normal person in isolation. There are eminent sociologists like Maci,er and others who ha!e cited a number of cases studies. These case studies show the fact that man de!elops human #ualities only in society. o
The case o) .as*ar Hauser 2 4aspar Hauser, a young 0erman boy, was isolated from all kinds of human contact when he was a small child. He li!ed in isolation in the forest of Nuremberg till he reached the age of se!enteen. He was brought out form the forest in 5678 and was taken to the city of Nuremberg. 1t was found that he could neither walk nor talk properly. He simply muttered a fewmeaningless phrase. He could not distinguish between inanimate and animate ob-ects. /fter ter his deat eath, the the postm stmo ortem rtem repo eport re!ea e!eale led d that that his men mental tal de!elopment was not normal. 1n spite of his subse#uent education he could ne!e ne!err beco become me a norm normal al man. man.)seehttp299www.li!escience.com9::;<=themysteryof seehttp299www.li!escience.com9::;<=themysteryof kasparhauser.htmlaccessed kasparhauser.html accessed July 8, 201* 201 *
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The case o) Amala an" .amala: Two Two Hindu children children /mala and 4amala were disco!ered disco!ered in a &olf &olf den in 5678. By then /mala was two years old and 4amala was nearly eight at the time, when they were disco!ered from the den. /mala died soon after disco!ery. 4amala continued to li!e until 5676. 1t was found that she beha!ed like a beast and walked like a fourfooted animal. he could not speak and growled like a wolf. he was shy of human contact. 1t was only after careful and sympat sympathet hetic ic traini training ng that that she could could learn learn some some socia sociall habits habits like like simpl simple e spee speech ch,, eati eating ng,, dres dressi sing ng and and the the lik like. )seehttp299www.smashinglists.com95>feral seehttp299www.smashinglists.com95>feral humanchildrenraisedbyanimals9 accessed July 8, 201 !or other !eral human children raised by animals* animals*
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The case o) Anna:
?ecently the case of /nna, an elegits mint /merican child was studied by some some sociol sociologi ogists sts and psych psycholo ologis gists. ts. /n /nna na at the age of six months months was was plac placed ed in a room oom in comp comple lete te isol isolat atio ion n for for near nearly ly @!e @!e year years. s. he he was was disco!ered disco!ered in 56;8. On the disco!ery, it was found that, she could not walk or speak speak and was indiA indiAer erent ent to people people aroun around d her. her. he was was gi!en gi!en carefu carefull training after which she rapidly de!eloped human #ualities. he died in 56:7. The case of /nna pro!es that human nature de!elops only when he is one of many people sharing a common life. These cases pro!e that human being is social by nature. Human nature de!elops in man only when he li!es in society.
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PHILOSOPHY OF THE HUMAN PERSON
University of San Agustin AY: AY: 2014-2015: First First Semester
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De,elo*ment De,elo*ment o) sel) . The human infant, at his birth, is not fully aware of his own self3. He de!elops the idea of self through the interaction with others. Charles H' Coole& says says that the !ery !ery i"ea o) /sel)0 or /I/ can arise onl& in relationshi* %ith other *eo*le . 'H' Mea" says that at @rst the child performs the role of others with his parents and other persons at home. Then, gradually he takes the role of other persons such as playmates, friends etc. 1n this way the self de!elops.
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Necess Necessit& it& maes maes a man social' Necess Necessit& it& com*els com*els man to li,e in societ& societ&'' Man has a !ariety of needs. 1f he leads a cooperati!e life with his fellow beings in soci societ ety y he can can easi easily ly get get his his need needs s ful@ ful@ll lled ed.. Many Many of his his need needs s will will remai emain n unsatis@ed if he does not lead a cooperati!e life with his fellow beings. The human child child is born born helple helpless ss.. &itho &ithout ut prope properr care care he cannot cannot de!elo de!elop p himse himself lf.. (uring (uring infancy he must be pro!ided with nutrition, shelter and aAection. 1t is society, which extend extends s prote protect ction ion,, attent attention ion and opport opportuni unitie ties s necess necessary ary for his sur!i sur!i!al !al and growth.
The society protects the child against all sorts of danger and diCculty. diCculty. /part from ful@lling the basic needs of a man, the society satis@es his desires and aspirations. The societ society y ful@l ful@ls s !ariou !arious s needs needs like like educa educatio tional nal,, prote protecti ction, on, nurtur nurture, e, opport opportuni unity ty and and e#uipment3s etc. The need for self preser!ation which is felt by e!eryone is ful@lled by society. o the prolonged dependence of human child compels him to li!e in society.
+e Nee" Each Other / nurse escorted a tired, anxious young man to the bed side of an elderly man. Dour son is here,% she whispered to the patient. he had to repeat the words se!eral times before the patient"s eyes opened. He was hea!ily sedated because of the pain if his heart attack and he dimly saw the young man standing outside the oxygen tent. He reached out his hand and the young man tightly wrapped his @ngers around it, s#uee+ing a message of encouragement. The nurse brought a chair next to the bedside. /ll through the night the young man sat holding the old man"s hand, and oAering gentle words of hope. The dying man said nothing as he held tightly to his son. /s dawn approach, the patient died. The young man placed on the bed the lifeless hand he had been holding, and then he went to notify the nurse. &hile the nurse did what was necessary, the young man waited. &hen he had @nished her task, the nurse began to say words of sympathy to the χαλιξ3
PHILOSOPHY OF THE HUMAN PERSON
University of San Agustin AY: AY: 2014-2015: First First Semester
young man. But he interrupted her. &ho was that manE% he asked. The startled nurse replied, 1 thought he was your father.% No, he was not my father,% he answered. 1 ne!er saw him before in my life.% Then why didn"t you say something when 1 took you to himE% asked the nurse. He replied, 1 also knew he needed his son, and his son -ust wasn"t here. &hen 1 reali+ed he was too sick to tell whether or not 1 was his son, 1 knew how much he needed meF% &e need others. &e need others to lo!e and we need to be lo!ed by them. There is no no doubt without without it, we too, too, like like the infant left left alone, would would cease to grow, cease to de!elop, choose madness and e!en death.% Geo '. Buscaglia
De3nin! the Term 4Person( in Social Conte#t 1n e!eryday nglish the word person% has come to mean little more than an indi!idual human being.% This makes it somewhat problematic to speak of a personal 0od.% Howe!er, as might be expected, there are hidden depths to the idea of personhood, which which are are too easily easily o!erlo o!erlook oked. ed. The The ngli nglish sh word word pers person on% % deri!e deri!es s from from the Gatin Gatin ersona, ersona, which originally had the sense of a mask.% 'or early Ihristian writers, the %or" 4*erson( has an em*hasis u*on the idea of social relationships. relationships. / person is someone who plays a role in a social drama, who relates to others. / person has a part to play within a network of social relationships. 4*ersonalit&( relates In"i,i"ualit&% "oes not im*l& social relationshi*s , whereas whereas 4*ersonalit&( to the *art *la&e" $& an in"i,i"ual in a %e$ o) relationshi*s , by which that person is percei!ed to be distincti!e by others. The basic idea expressed by the concept of a personal 0od% is thus a 0od with whom we can stand in a relationship which is analogous to that which we could ha!e with another human person. 1t is helpful to consider what o!ertones the phrase an impersonal 0od% would con!ey. con!ey. The phrase suggests a 0od who is distant or aloof, who deals with humanity )if 0od deals with us at all* in general terms which take no account of human indi!iduality.
I Am +e Are
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PHILOSOPHY OF THE HUMAN PERSON
University of San Agustin AY: AY: 2014-2015: First First Semester 4Ao( an" 4.ita( 1f we ask what is the essence of the 1 am,% the answer is the we are.% 1 am we are. &ho am 1E 1 am we are. 1 do not answer 1 am (omingo, e!en if 1 answer in this manner, the essence of (omingo is we are,% which means that 1 am only (omingo in the we are.% My essence depends on my being with others in the kita% )we are*. Thus, the essence of 1 am% is the we are. &ithout the we are,% the 1 am% has no sense. No matter how 1 proclaim 1 am% it will not matter if 1 am not in the we are,% for to whom will 1 declare my 1 am% if there is no one to declare it toE This simply mean that e!en the ego )1* cannot be if not for the we are.% The we are% gi!es sense to the 1 am% for it is the condition for the possibility of the 1 am.%
+e Can e One / few years ago at the eattle pecial Olympics, nine contestants, all physically or mentally disabled, assembled at the starting line for the 5>> yard dash. /t the gun, they all started out, not exactly in a dash, but with the relish to run the race to the @nish and win. /ll, that is, except, one boy who stumbled on the asphalt, tumbled o!er a couple of times and began to cry. The other eight heard the boy. They slowed down and looked back. !ery one of them turned around and went back. One girl with (own"s syndrome bent down and a nd kissed him and said, This will make it better.% /ll nine linked arms and walked across the @nish line together. !eryone in the stadium stood, and the cheering went on for se!eral minutes.
Re)erences 2
/lima-en,(omingo ?afael /. Jr. #$% Jr. #$% "&osology o! 'ommunion". 'ommunion". Jaro, 1loilo Iity2 t. Kincent 'errer eminary Lublications, 7>>6. Babor, ddie ?. (he Human )erson% &ot *eal, +ut $isting, -econd $dition. Lhilippines2 I Lublishing, 1nc. 7>><. Hinacay, Marionito G. and Maria Belen .. Hinacay. Hinacay. (he Human )erson, 200 Maiden dition. Lhilippines2 Kitasophia Book Ienter, 7>>. http299gatewayto-esus.com
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PHILOSOPHY OF THE HUMAN PERSON
University of San Agustin AY: AY: 2014-2015: First First Semester
http299www.preser!earticles.com Johnson, Latricia Latricia /ltenbernd./n /ltenbernd./n Heidegger. Ialifornia2 Heidegger. Ialifornia2 &adsworth Thomson Gearning, 7>>>. Mc0rath,/lister . 'hristian . 'hristian (heology% n ntroduction. nited ntroduction. nited 4ingdom2 Blackwell Lublishing Gtd., 7>55. Tubo, Tubo, (ennis Killanue!a. Killanue!a. )hilosohy o! Man% $istential )henomenological roach, *evised $dition. Lhilippines2 National Bookstore, 7>>. 7>> .
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