LECTURE #2:

MAN AS PERSON

Ms. Angela Suzanne L. Roldan, RPm

College of Arts and Sciences,
Psychology Department
“To know oneself.” - Socrates

My goals, my actions, and how I

treat others depend on how I
understand myself as a human
being.
 Morality by Filipinos

 Morality is “Batas ng Diyos”

 A person should respect his humanity,
“pagkatao”
 A person should love and care for his family.
 A person should strive to live peacefully with
others.
 A person should fear God and His punishment.
 Rational Animal

Man

Body = materiality

Soul = Immateriality

Hylomorphic (Substantial Union) / Human Nature

 Human Nature

 Biological powers = Nutrition, locomotion, growth

and reproduction

 Psychological Powers = senses, perception,

imagination and remembering, emotions.

 Rational Powers = intellect and will (comprehension

and volition)
 Natural Law

 All human powers or faculties are operational

tendencies towards what is good to man as a rational
animal.

 Human nature is the natural law for it directs all his

activities.

 “Contrary to natural law.” = the act against human

nature/humanity.
 Laws of Nature

 Are factual truth / “approximate truths"

of science.

 E.g. Gravity, boiling/freezing point,

projectile motion, elements
 Moral Being
3 Characteristics Reveal Man’s Moral Nature:

1. Man by natural insight is able to distinguish between

good and evil, right and wrong, moral and immoral.

2. Man feels himself obliged to do what is good and to

avoid what is evil.

3. Man feels himself accountable for his actions so that

his good deed merit rewards, while his evil deeds
deserve punishment.
 Man as Person

 Person in human nature, actualized and manifested in

the history of place and time.

“an individual, existing separately and independently

from others, capable of knowing and loving in an
intellectual way and of deciding for himself the purpose
or end of his actions.” (person, self, ego)
 Personality and Character

 “Personality is the principle of rational action,

character is the principle of moral action.” – Brennan

 Cultivation of Personality = Personality develops and

enlarges itself. (Theories of Personality)

 Character = The person’s choice of values and

intelligent exercise of his freedom.
 Moral Character

 Character is the will of the person directing him

towards a recognized ideal.

Expectations / Ideals of humanity

Bad Character Good character

 Character

 Character is not the product of a

moment’s inspiration, but a disciplined
tendency to choose the right thing in any
given circumstance.
Social Dimension of the Person

“Natural law is the demand to be a

person in the community of other
persons.” – Paul Tillich

Key terms: Concern for others, public welfare, family

life, civic community, state.
 Assignment 1

1. What are the different types of voluntariness?

2. What is moral sensibility?
3. What in the meaning of “Acts with double
effects”?
4. What are the kinds of Human Acts?
5. Explain the quotation “First in intention, last in
execution.”

 Short bond paper / handwritten

1. Ethos
2. Mores
3. Human Acts
4. Reason
5. Freewill
6. Atheistic
7. Theistic
8. Atheistic
9. Acts of Man
10. Reciprocity