Interiority denotes the self-possession and inner core of the person: that which makes the person a Someone and distinguishes the person from a mere Something (cf. Bexten 2017, pp. 259 ff.). The person is not merely present outwardly, not merely one object among objects — the person has an inner depth, a center out of which it lives, cognizes, and acts. Edith Stein describes interiority as an “illuminated surface above a dark depth” — consciousness always grasps only a part of the personal depth. Scheler sees in it the ground for the fact that the person can never be merely an object.
Interiority belongs to the second dimension of personhood, yet it is not identical with self-consciousness. The embryo and the human being with severe dementia likewise possess interiority. As persons of the first dimension, they have an inner principle of life — the spiritual soul.
Interiority and intentionality form the two sides of personal spirituality: self-possession and openness. The person possesses itself and is at the same time directed toward what is other. Only one who possesses interiority can transcend the self (self-transcendence). One must have a self in order to be able to give it away. Love as the affirmation of the person for the person’s own sake affirms precisely this inner depth.
Wojtyła analyzes interiority as the experience of “I act.” Pascal sees in the “thinking reed” interiority despite frailty. Hengstenberg understands it as the precondition of love. Interiority also grounds the dignity of the person: because the person possesses an unfathomable inner core, the person may never be used as a mere means (Personalist Norm).
Chapter assignment: Chapter 4: What is human personhood?, Chapter 3: What is a person?
Sources: Generated by querying the Personhood ontology.
References: Bexten 2017, pp. 40, 44, 46, 60, 78, 259 (interiority and consciousness).
Further sources:
- Edith Stein: Der Aufbau der menschlichen Person (1932/33, ed. 2004). ESGA 14. Herder. (German) (interiority as an “illuminated surface above a dark depth”)
- Max Scheler: Die Stellung des Menschen im Kosmos (1928). (German) (the person as never merely an object)
- Karol Wojtyła: Love and Responsibility, transl. H. T. Willetts. (interiority as the experience of “I act.“)
- Blaise Pascal: Pensées (1670). (the “thinking reed” — interiority despite frailty)
- Hans-Eduard Hengstenberg: Philosophische Anthropologie (1957). Stuttgart: Kohlhammer. (German) (interiority as the precondition of love)
Ontological assignment: Interiority is a subclass of Archphenomenon and belongs to the second dimension of personhood. It presupposes the first dimension and is a precondition of self-transcendence.