WHAT MAKES

US HUMAN?
How will you
answer this
question?
In explaining the
essence of the
human person, it is
easy to focus on its
material or physical
aspect.
Human persons indeed
have material needs,
but they also have non-
material aspects
(Bernados, 2017).
 ABRAHAM
MASLOW’S
HIERARCHY OF
NEEDS
PHYSIOLOGICA
L NEEDS
 SAFETY AND
SECURITY NEEDS
 LOVE AND
BELONGINGNESS
ESTEEM NEEDS
 SELF-
ACTUALIZATION
After transferring to a new
school, you feel lonely because
you haven’t made any close
friends yet. You miss your old
friends and feel like an outsider.
To connect with others, you join
the school’s debate team and
eventually make friends, helping
you feel a sense of belonging.
Your family’s small business is
affected by a typhoon, and your
parents are worried about
paying for your school fees.
Although you enjoy school,
you’re anxious about your
family’s financial stability and
whether you can continue your
studies without interruptions.
You forget to bring lunch to
school, and your allowance
isn’t enough to buy food. By
lunchtime, you’re so hungry
that you can’t focus on your
lessons. Your priority becomes
finding something to eat
before you can concentrate
You are passionate about
environmental issues and want
to make a difference. You start
a school project focused on
reducing plastic waste. Leading
this initiative makes you feel
like you’re fulfilling your
potential and living in line with
your values.
You’re a hardworking student,
but you feel unrecognized by
your classmates and teachers.
To gain respect and prove your
abilities, you run for student
council. After winning the
election, you feel proud and
respected, which boosts your
confidence.
Which among
the NEEDS are
material?
Which are
Do you think that
the higher the
NEED into the
hierarchy the more
abstract it gets?
If the physiological
needs feed the
physical body, so
does the higher needs
in the hierarchy feed
the spirit?
 The Human
Person as an
Embodied Spirit
What does the term “embodied
spirit” mean? Probably, the first
thing that comes to mind when
thinking of the term 'embodied' is
that it is a quality of being
materialized or a characteristic of
possessing a body. On the other
hand, when we consider the term
“spirit”, we think of something
immaterial.
However, to speak of the
human person as an
'embodied spirit' does not
refer to the materialization or
the personification of a human
being. Rather, it refers to the
inseparable union of the body
and the soul.
Simply, the human person as an
embodied spirit means that his/her
body is inseparable from his/her
soul, just as the soul is inseparable
from the body. In other words, the
human person is the meeting point
of the material and immaterial
entities (Steph, 2018).
THE
UNDERSTANDING
OF THE HUMAN
PERSON IN THE
ANCIENT PERIOD
PLATO’s Three Functions of
the Soul
Plato's view of the human
person rests on the dichotomy
of the body and soul. For him,
the body is material and is
subject to changes and
destructions, while the soul is
He also believed that
the human soul is an
authentic part
because the body is
just its prison cell
(Bernados, 2017).
Plato contended that the
soul existed before the
body, for it was created by
the gods and was venerable
in birth (Plato, Timaeus, in
Reginal Ellen, Greek
Philosophy: Thales to
Aristotle, 1966).
THE UNDERSTANDING
OF THE HUMAN
PERSON IN THE
ANCIENT PERIOD
PLATO’S THREE
FUNCTIONS OF THE SOUL
The SOUL, according to Plato
has THREE FUNCTIONS:
1. The rational function
2. The passion function
3. The appetitive function
The head does the soul's
rational function, which
enables human persons to
think, analyze, comprehend,
and make decisions. This
guides the passion and
appetitive functions of the
soul.
On the other hand,
passion function
performs the actions
dictated by reason and
is also responsible for
various feelings, such
as hatred or anger.
Lastly, the appetitive
function enables a
person to experience
cravings or anything
that deals with man's
physical wants (Babor,
2001).
For Plato, if a person
allows his reason to
properly guide his passion
and appetite, he/she will
have a well-balanced
personality (Stumpf &
Fieser, 2012).
Aristotle’s Three Types
of Souls
Aristotle identified three
kinds of souls found in
plants, animals, and man.
Aristotle’s Three Types
of Souls
These three kinds of souls
are characterized as
vegetative, sensitive, and
rational.
Plants can grow,
reproduce, and feed
themselves. That is why
the living soul is found in
them. It does not share
the higher types of souls,
for it cannot feel and
On the other hand, the
sensitive soul shares
with the vegetative
soul, for it is also
capable of growing,
feeding, and
reproducing.
Moreover, what makes it
different is that it is also
capable of sensing or
feeling. A sensitive being
possesses the appetite
where desire, anger, and
pain are experienced
Meanwhile, the rational soul
shares with the other lower souls,
i.e., vegetative and sensitive. It
has the capacity for scientific
thoughts, for it can distinguish
various things. With this
capacity, it analyzes and
understands the relationship of
things.
Meanwhile, the rational soul
shares with the other lower souls,
i.e., vegetative and sensitive. It
has the capacity for scientific
thoughts, for it can distinguish
various things. With this
capacity, it analyzes and
understands the relationship of
things.
Moreover, aside from the
scientific thoughts, it also
deliberates and discovers
the truth of the nature of
things and the guidelines
for human behavior
(Stumpf & Fieser, 2012).
THE UNDERSTANDING
OF THE HUMAN
PERSON IN THE
MEDIEVAL PERIOD
The ancient Greek
philosophers focused only on
the cosmogenic nature of
human beings. Something
seems to be lacking when we
think of our origin. Everything
that exists must have a
beginning or a source.
The period following the
ancient times is called the
medieval period or the
middle ages. This period is
also referred to as the age of
faith. In Philosophy, this age
marks a shift of focus from
cosmology to theodicy.
Thus, this period centers on
proving the existence of God
based on rational methods.
Two philosophers are very
much known for this period,
namely, St. Augustine and
St. Thomas Aquinas.
ST. AUGUSTINE
St. Augustine of Hippo had a
deep interest in Philosophy in
his search for meaning in the
Christian faith. He believed
that God created the world,
and this includes the creation
of the immortal soul.
ST. AUGUSTINE
A human being is not only
material and rational but,
most importantly, a soul
embodied in a material
substance. In other words,
the soul is a 'self-sustaining'
substance.
ST. AUGUSTINE
Plato, therefore, believed in the
soul’s immortality, which can
exist without the body. With the
soul’s self-subsistence, it is the
real person in man. It is the
principle of life which is also
what makes man authentic.
ST. AUGUSTINE
The authentic person of
man is the soul within him.
The fact the human body
moves means that it is
animated by the soul to
perform its functions.
ST. AUGUSTINE
The human body and its senses
outwardly express the activities of
the human soul. Through our five
senses, the intellect, as a special
faculty, is enhanced, allowing
human beings to understand and
realize that they are more
endowed than other animals.
ST. THOMAS AQUINAS
He was greatly influenced
by Aristotle's thoughts
since, during his time, his
works were introduced and
accepted, particularly in
Paris.
ST. THOMAS AQUINAS
For Aquinas, Philosophy and
Theology are not two conflicting
disciplines. Rather, these two are
complementary in the quest for
truth. In his view of man's nature,
Aquinas believed that the soul is
dependent on the body, in the
same way as the body is
ST. THOMAS AQUINAS
The difference between him and
Aristotle was that the latter only
sees the body and soul as
inseparable. For Aquinas, however,
without the soul, the body will not
have its form, and without the body,
the soul will not have its required
sense organs to gain knowledge
(Stumpf & Fieser, 2012).
ST. THOMAS AQUINAS
The soul then gives life and
understanding, as well as
special physical features. It
also accounts for man’s
capacity for sensation and
the powers of intellect and
will (Fisher, 2017).
THE UNDERSTANDING
OF THE HUMAN
PERSON IN THE
MODERN PERIOD
RENE DESCARTES
The foremost person to have
identified man on top of the
other animals is Rene
Descartes. He explicitly said
that animals have no souls;
they cannot think and are mere
bundles of instincts
prepackaged by God.
RENE DESCARTES
As a rationalist, he praised
the supremacy of the human
mind over the human. “I
think, therefore, I am” is his
famous dictum.
RENE DESCARTES
This means that the fact that
man can think is proof that he
exists. This kind of rationalism
maintained that the human
mind is different from the
human body and can exist
without the other's presence.
RENE DESCARTES
Like Plato, he believed that
the destruction of the
physical body does not mean
the destruction of the mind
(Bernados, 2017).
RENE DESCARTES
Descartes' philosophy
opened up the minds of many
thinkers after him. His
thoughts on the concept of
the “I” led to the idea of
man's autonomy from a
divine being.
RENE DESCARTES
If a person allows himself to
be trampled upon by another
being, conflict arises, which
creates doubt. Descartes
believed that the individual is
responsible for himself.
RENE DESCARTES
Through self- examination
and contemplation, a human
person can realize that his
existence is completely
different from others.
JOHN LOCKE
The human mind could not
attain any knowledge without
perceiving it first. John Locke,
an empiricist, provided a
systematic philosophy that
attempts to answer how the
human person thinks.
JOHN LOCKE
Locke disagreed with
Descartes that human
persons are born with innate,
fundamental principles, and
knowledge (Kleinman, 2013).
JOHN LOCKE
If they were, all humans
should accept certain
universal principles. But since
this is not the case, then such
a claim must be false. For
Locke, the human mind is a
tabula rasa or blank slates.
JOHN LOCKE
Knowledge is acquired only
through sensory experiences.
This means that the soul
begins to know only when the
senses begin to perceive.
JOHN LOCKE
To point out the relation of
the soul and the body in
Locke's philosophy, we can
simply say that the soul is
always in contact with the
body.
JOHN LOCKE
The soul's task is to think and
interpret what the physical
body perceives. Therefore,
human knowledge is limited,
and humans should be aware
of such limitations (Kleinman,
2013).
JOHN LOCKE
For Locke, human nature
necessarily includes the
capacities for thinking, feeling,
and acting. These features
distinguish us from other
creatures, and make us human
persons.
THE HUMAN BODY AND
ITS LIMITATIONS