Study-Unit Description

Study-Unit Description


CODE PHI1200

 
TITLE Philosophy of the Human Person

 
UM LEVEL 01 - Year 1 in Modular Undergraduate Course

 
MQF LEVEL Not Applicable

 
ECTS CREDITS 4

 
DEPARTMENT Philosophy

 
DESCRIPTION Our analysis is concerned, not with any of the details of physical functioning, nor of thought processes, insofar as they can be empirically assessed, but with what the human person most essentially is. Is the human person but an organic machine, the result of billions of years of chance mutations? Is the human person a composite substance made up of soul and body? Do humans have free will? Can humans survive death? These are the questions both philosophers and theologians are properly concerned with, for they obviously cannot be conclusively answered by the physical sciences alone. In this study-unit we will examine several different theories of the human person, including dualistic theories, materialistic theories, and the hylomorophic theory. We will also attend to questions concerning human diversity and whether or not there is any such thing as human nature. The study-unit will therefore also need to reflect on the contribution of Judaeo-Christian thought to the concept of personhood.

Study-unit Aims:

Since the concept of a human person is not a straightforward one given the huge implications derived from endorsing or rejecting any given notion of person, one of the principal aims of this study-unit is to answer the question whether we need the concept of human person at all, that is, whether the concept of personhood adds anything significant and distinctive to that of human nature and if so, we need to understand why and how.

Secondly, arguments justifying the criteria for the adoption of a notion of personhood versus other arguments rejecting it will be thoroughly examined, together with an assessment of salient themes related to rationality, the mind, agency and soul.

Learning Outcomes:

1. Knowledge & Understanding:

By the end of the study-unit the student will possess a rich historical and thematic knowledge of the development of theories of personhood, together with the analytical tools needed to offer a critique of various positions put forward.

2. Skills:

By the end of the study-unit the student will be able to identify clearly the intellectual pedigree behind different academic and popular usages of the term 'person' (or lack of them) and to be able to engage in constructive debate with such genera of thought consistently and accurately.

Main Text/s and any supplementary readings:

Dignitas Personae, Instruction on Certain Bioethical Questions, CDF, 2008.
Aquinas, St. Thomas, Summa Theologiae, First Part, qq. 75-89.
Aristotle, De Anima, transl. J. Barnes, ed.
Aristotle, Nicomachean Ethics, transl. ed.
Broadie, S., ‘Soul and Body in Plato and Descartes’, Proceedings of the Aristotelian Society 2001.
Boethius, The Theological Tractates and the Consolation of Philosophy, Harvard University Press.
Eberl, J., ‘Aquinas on the nature of human beings’, The Review of Metaphysics, Vol. 58, No. 2, December 2004, 333-365.
Frankfurt, H., ‘Freedom of the Will and the Concept of a Person’, Journal of Philosophy 68, 1971, 5-20.
Freddoso, A., ‘Good News, Your Soul Hasn’t Died Quite Yet’, In Michael Baur, ed., Person, Soul, and Immortality: Proceedings of the American Catholic Philosophical Association (New York: American Catholic Philosophical Association) 75 (2002): 99-120.
Haldane, J., 'Persons and Values', Journal of Medical Ethics, Vol. 14, 1988.
Haldane, J., 'Intuitions and the Value of a Person', Journal of Applied Philosophy, Vol. 14, 1997.
Haldane, J., 'Recognising Humanity', Journal of Applied Philosophy, 2008.
Haldane, J., 'Political Theory and the Nature of Persons: An Ineliminable Metaphysical Presupposition', Philosophical Papers, Vol. 20, 1991.
Kant, I., Foundations of the Metaphysics of Morals, trans. Paton.
Kerr, F., Work on Oneself: Wittgenstein's Philosophical Psychology, Institute for the Psychological Sciences, 2008.
McCabe, H., ‘The immortality of the soul’, in Kenny, A., Aquinas: A collection of critical essays, 1969, 297-306.
McCabe, H., ‘Soul, Life, Machines and Language’, Faith Within Reason, Continuum 2007, 123-149.
McInerny, R., 1993. Aquinas Against the Averroists: On There Being Only One Intellect. Transl. & Commentary, West Lafayette: Purdue University Press.
O’Callaghan, J., "Creation, Human Dignity, and the Virtues of Acknowledged Dependence, "Nova et Vetera, (2003).
Pasnau, R., Thomas Aquinas on Human Nature, Columbia University Press, 2002.
Ricoeur, P., Fallible Man, rev. trans. Charles A. Kelbley, New York: Fordham University Press, 1986.
Searle, J., Minds, Brains and Science, 1986.
Sherwin, M., By Knowledge and by Love, Catholic University of America Press, 2006.
Strawson, P., Freedom, Resentment and other Essays, London 1974.
Van Inwagen, P., "A Materialist Ontology of the Human Person", Persons: Human and Divine (van Inwagen, Zimmerman, eds.): 199-215.
Wojtyla, K. (John Paul II), Metafisica della persona. Tutte le opere filosofiche e saggi integrative, Bompiani 2003.

 
ADDITIONAL NOTES This study-unit is offered only to Theology students.

 
STUDY-UNIT TYPE Lecture

 
METHOD OF ASSESSMENT
Assessment Component/s Sept. Asst Session Weighting
Assignment Yes 100%

 
LECTURER/S Mark Sultana

 

 
The University makes every effort to ensure that the published Courses Plans, Programmes of Study and Study-Unit information are complete and up-to-date at the time of publication. The University reserves the right to make changes in case errors are detected after publication.
The availability of optional units may be subject to timetabling constraints.
Units not attracting a sufficient number of registrations may be withdrawn without notice.
It should be noted that all the information in the description above applies to study-units available during the academic year 2023/4. It may be subject to change in subsequent years.

https://www.um.edu.mt/course/studyunit