Philosophy of the Human Person: A Conclusion
What is the meaning of human person? What is a human person in Philosophy? According to philosophical views, what is a human person or being?
Philosophy of the Human Person is the philosophical branch that focuses on the human person, inquiring into his nature, essence, and condition. In making this examination, it seeks to unify or philosophically evaluate not only the scientific approaches but also (and especially) the humanistic methodologies to answering the vital questions about human beings.
Philosophy of the Human Person as a reflective discipline deals with questions of phenomenology and metaphysics of the human person and his interpersonal relationships. (Read: Phenomenology Study: The Phenomenological Inquiry and the ‘Lived Experience’)
Ultimately, it intends to maximize a person’s qualities in order to live life as fully human. The subject aims to study the person in such a way that it humanizes and enables him or her to lead a good life, and most importantly, to live his or her reason for being.
Seeking wealth and power
Material possessions, power, and influences are worthless in the face of death. Thus, if it is foolish to consider wealth as the foundation of life, then it is also unwise to equate the pursuit of it to man’s reason for having been brought to existence and life.
The Holy Scriptures yet does not question the worth of looking after the wellbeing of our physical self. Apostle Paul commands us to tend not just our soul and spirit but also our body (I Thess. 5:23). To nurture our body, we need to have resources. Hence, for those who do not want to work for a living, the apostles even instruct that “they work” so as to “eat their own bread.” (II Thess. 3:11-12,10)
Nevertheless, to prove that the acquisition of luxuries should not be man’s focal concern, the Holy Book teaches that we should be content with what we have (I Tim. 6:8-9). Jesus Christ even directs people not to worry about what they shall eat, drink, and wear but to seek first the kingdom of God and all these things shall just be added unto them (Mt. 6;31-33).
Therefore, man’s reason for being which should be the foremost consideration in all his endeavors is that which is oriented to the inheritance of God’s kingdom and not that which is inclined to possession of wealth, though riches are indeed used to live well and thus be able to fulfill our reason for being.
Man’s Reason for Being
The psalmist declares that to serve God is the purpose why He created us (Ps. 100:2-3). King Solomon, the wisest and richest man in his time, further clarified this truth by summarizing everything about man’s existence, thus: “Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God and keep His commandments, for this is the whole duty of man” (Eccl. 12:13).
We, as creatures, are therefore bound to conform to God’s purpose for creating us by performing our inherent duty to serve Him. To serve God is to keep or follow His commandments. This is our whole divine duty and this answers the “why” in the creation and existence of man.
Demonstrating that to do or follow God’s will is man’s reason for being, Jesus Christ reveals its necessary relation to the possession of the right to live a blissful eternal life in the kingdom of heaven: “Not everyone who says to Me, `Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven” (Mt. 7:21).
Hence, by fulfilling God’s will and commandments, not only does a human person carry out his reason for being, but he also, through the promised dwelling in the heavenly kingdom, will be able to extend his life and existence, which many people try to accomplish, but in vain, by accumulating affluences of this world. This is the philosophy of the human person taught by the Holy Scriptures … continue reading
Related: What is Man? (The Biblical Philosophy of Man)
Also Check Out: From Socrates to Mill: An Analysis of Prominent Ethical Theories, also by author Jensen DG. Mañebog
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