[MOD 3] The Human Person ● needs company of another; “no

man is an island”
and Christian Philosophy
● enables persons to love (another
unique characteristic)
Saint Thomas Aquinas (1225-1274)
● Dominican priest
Historical Person
● Doctor of the Church
● persons grow and mature
● one of most intellectual saints
through significant milestones
● writings are used up to now
● stages of human development
○ explained characteristics
not just physically but
of human person
psychologically and spiritually
● past experiences mold us into
Embodied Spirit
who we are now
● each person is composed of two
● continually growing and maturing
entities: body and soul
○ body material and finite
Unique though Fundamentally Equal
○ soul continues to exist
- all persons are different in their
after death; eternity with
beliefs, prejudices, preferences,
God
etc.
- desire to be unique and stand out
Rational Creature
- this does not make us superior or
● human person is endowed with
inferior to people around us
intellect that separates us from
- identifies our uniqueness
other creatures
as an individual not our
● capable of understanding
nature or humanity
ourselves and what happens
- all the same at the core and this
around us
equality demands respect
● we do not operate on instinct but
out of deliberate knowledge and
consent
● creatures of conscience makes
[READING] Fundamentally
us recognize moral quality Equal: Man and Woman
through judgment of reason
● people are responsible for Man and Woman
everything they do ● God created humankind with two
sexes: man and woman
Relational Being ● both have unique characteristics
● human nature to seek but fundamentally equal
connections with others
● to experience authentic
happiness
Edith Stein (1891-1942)
● also known as Saint Theresia
Bendikta of the Cross
● Polish professor of philosophy →
Carmelite nun
● imprisoned during WWII;
martyred
● recognized for work on personal
empathy drawn from
phenomenology
○ complementary as
masculine and feminine
Pope Francis on Feminine Aspect of
Humanity
● genius of woman is seen in
feminine styles of holiness which
are essential in reflecting God’s
holiness

Stein on the Equality of Men and

Women
● acknowledges existence of male
domination in human society
○ patriarchy as result of
entrance of sin into the
world (MOJO DOJO CASA
HOUSE??)
● hopes for establishment of new
Kingdom of God where original
order of relationship is restored
○ based from genuine love
● men and women as
“co-essential members of one
species”
○ images of God
○ supports idea of feminine
attributes of God
○ woman is “not a servant,
not a tool, but a partner”

Catholic Church on Stein’s claim

● supports her claims
● “man and woman were made for
each other”
● God left them half-made and
incomplete: he created them too
be communion of persons, which
can be “helpmate” to each other