ns. It refers to the characteristics that distinguish humans from all other creatures.

These
traits are expected to arise independent of the influence of culture and society.
EXAMPLES: THINKING,
FEELING AND ACTING.
What is the human person?
Self-awareness refers to the person having a clear perception of oneself, including his
thoughts, emotions,
identity and actions.
Try saying these!
● I am a person.
● I am alive.
● I exist.
● I am here. I am present.
● I am living at this very moment.
Exercise 1
Little Jose is playing in the living room while his mom is in the kitchen. He
accidentally bumps
into a table, causing a vase to fall. Upon hearing, his mom went to the living room and
saw him,
standing near the broken vase. She asked, “Did you break the vase?” What do you
think Jose‘s answer
will be?
Self-determination refers to the capability of persons to make choices and decisions
based on their own
preferences, monitor and regulate their actions, and be goal-oriental and self-directed.
Consequence is the result or effect of an action or condition. Philosophers believe
that a person acts freely
and with due regard for the consequences of his actions.
Externality refers to the capability of a person to reach out and interact with others
and the world.
Dignity refers to the innate right to be valued and respected. Philosophers consider all
humans as having an
inherent worth or value. “You’re worthless!” is an insult since it attacks the very
notion of a person having
value or worth.
Here’s what two religious tradition say:
A. Hinduism
Brahman is Self-Hood –According to Hinduism, human beings have a dual nature:
one is the spiritual
and immortal essence (soul); the other is empirical life and character. Between the
two natures, however, it is
maintained that it is the soul that is ultimately real. The existence of the body, in fact,
is considered as nothing
more than illusion and even an obstacle to an individual’s realization of one’s real self.
Hindus generally believe that the soul is eternal but is bound by the law of Karma to
the world of
matter, which it can escape only after spiritual progress through an endless series of
births. God allots rewards
and punishments to all beings according to their karma (Puligandla 1997). Similar to a
prisoner enclosed
within the wall of his prison, a human being’s soul can be said to be temporarily
encased in his body. For this
reason, humanity’s basic goal in life is the liberation (moksha) of spirit (jiva).33
Hinduism holds that humanity’s life is a continuous cycle (samsara). While it is the
spirit is neither
born nor does it die, the body, on the other hand, goes through a trans-migratory series
of birth and death.
Transmigration or metempsychosis is a doctrine that adheres to the belief that a
person’s soul passes into some
other creature, human, or animal. If the person has led a good life, the soul goes
upward the scale. The soul
of an evil person, on the other hand, may pass into the body of an animal.
There will be no end to the cycle unless the individual exerts real efforts to break
away or liberate
one’s spirit from the monotonous cycle. Different Hindu schools and sects have
different views about the
method of release from this transmigration.
Ultimate liberation, that is, freedom from rebirth, is achieved the moment the
individual attains that
stage of life emancipation, from which inevitably arises a total realization by the
individual of spiritual nature
as well as the transient character of the body. Moksha, thus, is an enlightened state
wherein one attains one’s
true selfhood and finds oneself one with the ONE, the Ultimate Reality, the All
Comprehensive Reality:
Brahman.
Hinduism is one of the oldest Eastern tradi