This chapter is the heart of the book. It asks: What makes the human being a person? What do we actually mean when we say that someone is a person? And what follows from this — for the embryo, for the dying, for each of us?
To answer these questions, we will proceed step by step. We will first introduce a few fundamental distinctions that belong to the toolkit of philosophy. Then we will show what distinguishes the human being as an independent being. And finally we will press on to the core of human personhood: its three dimensions.
The path is not always easy. Some thoughts will take time. Some distinctions will sound unfamiliar at first. But it is worth it, for at the end stands an insight that concerns everyone — an insight about ourselves.
Sections
- Three Dimensions of Human Personhood
- The Method: Looking at the Thing Itself
- What Kind of Being Does the Human Being Have?
- First Questions About Being
- Form and Matter
- Actuality and Potentiality
- The Human Being as an Independent Being in Relation
- Summary: What Is Human Personhood?