Philosophy of Human Nature

(3 Credit Hours) · Undergraduate

In our age, the nature of the human person has become increasingly important theme in philosophical anthropology. Is there a difference between being a member of the species homo sapiens and being a person? If a person is an animal with an inner life, can members of other species be considered as persons? Or must we say that contemporary sciences have shown that personhood is a kind of subjectivist illusion, that we are basically organic machines? Is there a spiritual 'self', and if so what must this be like? We will consider the nature of the human person in the light of contemporary challenges such as scientific materialism, Cartesian dualism, and political totalitarianism. Texts will be drawn from the Vatican Council's Pastoral Constitution Gaudium et Spes, Karol Wojtyła Love and Responsibility, Adrian J. Reimers The Soul of the Person, Jacques Maritain The Person and the Common Good, and a course packet of readings. Course requirements: four or five quizzes, one term paper, and a final exam.