THE HUMAN PERSON AS AN

EXISTENTIAL SUBJECT

Being-in-the-World
Embodied Subjectivity
Acting Subject
Free and Self-Determining
THE HUMAN PERSON AS AN
EXISTENTIAL SUBJECT

Lesson 1
Human Person as Being-in-the-World
and Embodied Subjectivity
A. The Human Situation
The human situation is the
general circumstances that
define our individual existence.
 It has 2 characteristics:
FACTICITY TRANSCENDENCE
■ Refers to what is ■ Refers to what we can
given to us decide for ourselves
■ Not within our ■ Within our
control control
■ Gender, race, color, ■ Attitude towards the
physical features, world and others
environment
FACTICITies could be
hindrances
or opportunities

Self-development
Meaningful Existence
TRANSCENDENCE is POSSIBILITY!

Transform challenges into

OPPORTUNITIES
B. The Human Person as Being-in-
the-World
The notion of
BEING-IN-THE-WORLD
was introduced
by Martin Heidegger,
a German Philosopher.
1889–1976
Being-in-the-world
 ‘World’ means:

A. The physical
space and the
totality of
objects (in this
space)
Being-in-the-world
 ‘World’ means:
B. Interconnections of these objects and our relations with
them whether we use, consume or manipulate them.
Some objects are not within our reach
and thus we do not use them: these do
not belong to our world.
ENVIRONMENT – world nearest to us
Being-in-the-world
 ‘World’ means:
C. The people whom we relate and communicate with:
Family, friends, classmates, teachers, acquaintances

As human individuals, we have our own

respective world and the objects and
people in this world have significance to
us.
As students, you have your own
world…

PETA
Being-in-the-world
 ‘World’ means:
Therefore, to be in the world is not to be
contained in a location.
To be in the world is to have dealings
(connection) with objects
and relations with the people in the world
we find ourselves in.
Being-in-the-world
 ‘World’ means:
Objects: used, consumed and manipulated
1. Ready-at-Hand
ready to be used as tools or equipment (ballpen)
2. Present-at-Hand
always available to be used whenever we need
them (cellphones)
 People are human persons.
Therefore, we cannot use, consume and
manipulate them for they are not tools.

Wag tayong manggamit!

Our orientation with people

is a personal relation.

INTERSUBJECTIVE RELATION
Being-in-the-world
Two Orientations/Relations
1. Relation with the things and objects

2. Relation with fellow human beings

What are your Facticities?
How do you
transcend?
How do you make
sense of your world?
C. The Notion of Embodied Subjectivity

Gabriel H. Marcel
French Philosopher

Man is an
EMBODIED SUBJECTIVITY
EMBODIMENT
To have a (physical) body
It means “I have a body”
To experience intimacy (closeness)
with one’s body
It means “I am my body”
Embodied Subjectivity

BODY: a body (individuality)

and my body (personality)

The BODY can be an instrument

but it is also YOU.
SUBJECTIVITY
To be a subject means…
To have an individual consciousness
and personal experience of reality
To act upon an object

Another term for interiority (loob)

EMBODIMENT
To have feelings
It means to have an internal
perception or inner awareness
‘COENESTHETIC’
It is the first and basic mode of
embodiment
FEELING as MODE of EMBODIMENT
“I am my body only
insofar as I am a being
that has feelings.”

Two mutually related acts:

1. Internal perception of one’s body
2. External perception of the world
FEELING of BEING in the WORLD
Mode of Participation
A. Objective Participation
*Sharing or being part of something
*Acting like a mere observer or spectator
B. Non-Objective Participation
*To be personally involved in the situation
*Being an actor
The BODY as VISIBLE REALITY
The BODY is the
material and visible
reality which is accessible
to the senses
The BODY has its own
inwardness
The BODY as VISIBLE REALITY
Both of them recognized that we
express ourselves in and through
the BODY
It is through the BODY
that one realizes and
engages the external world
THE HUMAN PERSON AS AN
EXISTENTIAL SUBJECT

Lesson 2
Human Person as an Acting Subject
The NATURE of HUMAN ACTION
“ACTING”
It means CONSCIOUS doing
It means WILLINGNESS to do
something
“SUBJECT”
It the DOER of the act
It is the (moral) AGENT him/herself
The “ACTING SUBJECT”
is the Human Person
The NATURE of HUMAN ACTION
Two Kinds of Actions: (St. Thomas Aquinas)
A. Human Action (Man-Acts)
Actions that a human being does as man.
Actions that are proper to man as man.
Actions that are within our control.
Actions performed knowingly, freely,
and voluntarily.
The NATURE of HUMAN ACTION
Two Kinds of Actions: (St. Thomas Aquinas)
B. Action of Man
Actions without knowledge of the intellect.
Actions without the decision and influence of the will.
Actions without deliberation and freedom
Actions that are involuntary.
The NATURE of HUMAN ACTION
Two Kinds of Actions: (St. Thomas Aquinas)
Since we are capable of
performing such actions, ACTING SUBJECTS
Only human actions are considered moral actions.

MORALITY – the quality of the human act.

The NATURE of HUMAN ACTION
MORALITY
Constituents Sources
of Human Act: of Morality:
Knowledge Object
Freedom Intention
Voluntariness Circumstance
The NATURE of HUMAN ACTION
According to Karol Wojtyla…
Actions express and
serve as bases for one’s
SUBJECTIVITY.
We come to know ourselves
and others in and through
our conscious actions
(decisions).
The NATURE of HUMAN ACTION
According to Karol Wojtyla…
Like St. Thomas Aquinas,
Wojtyla believes in HUMAN
DYNAMISM.
This dynamism (vitality) is
seen, realized and fulfilled in
and through one’s actions.
The NATURE of HUMAN ACTION
St. Thomas Aquinas Karol Wojtyla

Human Action Conscious Action

Action of Man Something-happens-in-
Man
The Experience of EFFICACY and SUBJECTIVENESS
What’s the EFFECT when we make a conscious act?
Wojtyla calls this moment the “experience of
efficacy
Being the”cause (source) of one’s action, he/she is
in complete control of his/her action – as agent or
actor.
As an efficient cause, he/she is responsible for
his/her action.
Thus, he/she becomes a meaning-giving being.
The Experience of EFFICACY and SUBJECTIVENESS
What is the SUBJECTIVENESS?
When one performs an act, they are not just conscious
of their action, they are also aware of their subjectivity.
Wojtyla calls this self-awareness or subjectivity (i.e.,
moods, feelings, attitudes, opinions, etc.)
Subjectiveness is the awareness of the person of
himself/herself as a SUBJECT.
Also called self-consciousness.
PERSONALISTIC VALUE of the ACTION
What is PERSONALISTIC VALUE?
Every action has a PERSONAL CHARACTER rooted in
the value of the person.
Thus, has an INHERENT DIGNITY and VALUE.
This value is always PERSONAL.
For Karol Wojtyla, this fundamental value is called
PERSONALISTIC VALUE of the ACTION.
is the very performance itself of the action by
the person doing the act.
HUMAN ACTION and SELF-DETERMINATION
What is SELF-DETERMINATION?
For Wojtyla, self-determination is the ability to move
from the “I can” and “I need not” to
“I WANT” or “I WILL.”
is an expression or decision
coming from the acting person.
HUMAN ACTION and SELF-DETERMINATION
What is SELF-DETERMINATION?
Two Aspects of Self-Determination:
A. Self-Possession
means the person owns himself/herself.
B. Self-Governance
means the person has command or
control of himself/herself.
THE HUMAN PERSON AS AN
EXISTENTIAL SUBJECT

Lesson 3
Human Freedom and Self-Determination
 TO BE FREE

DOING WHAT WE WANT TO DO

WHAT DOES IT MEAN
TO BE FREE?
IS MAN
HUMAN FREEDOM and SELF-DETERMINATION
What is FREEDOM?
Theories on FREEDOM
a. DETERMINISM
b. LIBERTARIANISM
c. EXISTENTIALIST Notion
of FREEDOM
HUMAN FREEDOM and SELF-DETERMINATION
What is FREEDOM?
Determinism
*Every human action is the predictable
consequence or result of an antecedent causes.
**Man’s decision is defined by external factors.
:.Freedom is impossible and everything is just a
response to nature. There is no sense of responsibility.
HUMAN FREEDOM and SELF-DETERMINATION
What is FREEDOM?
Determinism (Softer) by John Stuart Mill
*Decisions and actions are inevitable.
**Man’s decision is defined by his/her
character without coercion.
:.Being free means having the awareness of not being
forced to act. There is a sense of responsibility.
HUMAN FREEDOM and SELF-DETERMINATION
What is FREEDOM?
Libertarianism
*The future, if imagined, has many possibilities.
**There is a feeling of regret when one’s action
is not right because one could have done
otherwise.
:. Man has freedom and is always free
to make decisions.
HUMAN FREEDOM and SELF-DETERMINATION
What is FREEDOM?
Existentialist notion of Freedom
*Man has the capacity to choose and determine
his/her actions and self.
**But this means that man is free to do whatever
he/she believes he/she can and actually do.
:. Man’s personality is his/her own future creation and is
totally responsible for what he/she makes of him/herself.
HUMAN FREEDOM and SELF-DETERMINATION
What is FREEDOM?
Existentialist notion of Freedom
AUTHENTIC existence means ACTING responsibly.
AUTHENTICITY means embracing FULL responsibility in
all our decisions.
AUTHENTIC freedom means ABSOLUTE responsibility.
EXISTENCE

PRECEDES
ESSENCE
FREEDOM makes possible our
individual essence and we cannot
escape this freedom.

We are condemned to be free because

we cannot avoid responsibility.
 Be careful of LABELS.
In existentialism, bad faith is a phenomenon
whereby human beings under pressure
from social forces adopt false values
and disown their innate freedom.

Thus, one lives inauthentically.

It also means self-deception and
resentment.
HUMAN FREEDOM and SELF-DETERMINATION
What is SELF-DETERMINATION?
Self-Determination is involved in Freedom.
the ability to decide and choose for oneself.
1. Man is the efficacious agent of the act.
2. Man is free because he/she is not compelled
by external factors.
HUMAN FREEDOM and SELF-DETERMINATION
What is SELF-DETERMINATION?
Self-Determination is involved in Freedom.
Two Aspects of Self-Determination:
A. Self-Possession
B. Self-Governance

- Qualities of FREEDOM
HUMAN FREEDOM and SELF-DETERMINATION
What is SELF-DETERMINATION?
Your lifetime-project is…

your own story.