The Nature of Human Person
I was in awe with this beauty of nature the first time I saw this place. I captured the photo using my Samsung J7 Prime (I am not promoting my phone, huh). I just want to show to everyone how nature is connected to us. Very the same to the ideology of Taoism. As it says, we cannot approach nature as a thing to be mastered but as a partner in a relationship. Human beings and nature live dependently with each other because WE ARE ONE WITH NATURE.
A human person has its nature. Human beings has two attributes the material and the spiritual and the spiritual attributes.
Man as an Individual Organism: Material and Spiritual
Man is an organism composed of a material body and a spiritual soul. He is the whole of his materiality and immateriality, the SUBSTANTIAL UNION of body and soul, matter and spirit. This essential wholeness is what we call human nature. The elements of Human Nature is the Body and the Soul.
The Body
What are these material attributes of a human being?
These material attributes were realize by comparing human beings to what we see around us. Which means that the body of a human being is compared to nature. So, what are present in our surroundings might be similar to what we can see in our human body. These material attributes includes the following:
- Minerals we are compared to minerals because just like minerals we are capable of different changes. These changes might be a chemical, biological and physical.
- Plants, human body is the same with plants in three ways. The human body is the same with plants in terms of nutrition, growth and reproduction.
- Animals, how are we become the same with animals? Human beings can walk and run which is locomotion, we have sensation and sensitive appetites.
These similarities between the human body and the nature is known to be the earthly attributes of a human being.
Yet, some questions will come into our mind? How can a human being function with this earthly attributes? Well, as what was mentioned earlier in this article there must be a substantial union between the material and the spiritual aspect. So what is the soul?
The SOUL
The soul is known to be the spiritual faculties of man. It is comprise of two major concepts. I am going to call these concepts because these are ideas that are abstract. Thoughts that we can never see nor feel. These are words alone that not any of our five senses can distinguish but we know that they exist. These are the INTELLECT and the WILL.
What is the difference between the two?
Intellect is our power to penetrate the nature of things. This is our way of seeking the truth. Through intellect we will be able to identify the use of nature.
Will is the power that allows man to carry out ones choice. When we know what is the truth our decision must be inclined to goodness.
With this material and spiritual attributes of human nature we can conclude that human beings could not work and function with the body alone. The more that this body will be of no use without the spiritual faculties, the intellect and will. Just the same with nature, nature alone is useless without human beings present that has the power to appreciate its beauty. Personally, I strongly believe that the presence of nature around us is tailored fit to what we need and what is due to us. Yet, as human beings we need to protect what is given to us. Their are things given to us but at the same time we need to become responsible for it.