Page 157 - EMCAPP-Journal No. 8

Forum

The human person and the human

personality

1. Reflections on the text by Andrey Lorgus

In searching for the particularities of human nature, Andrey Lorgus correct-
ly points to the category of the person as the most important determinant
of the truth which is man. “The person” – this is a philosophical or religious
term. But if, in psychology, we want to grasp what is most human in order to Romuald Jaworski,
defend ourselves against a reductionist view of man, the personalistic con- dr. hab., psycholo-
cept appears especially important and useful. For, among the creatures living gist, psychotherapist,
on earth, the human being, and only the human being, is a person. supervisor, catholic
priest, professor at
Man as a person, because of his similarity to God, is indeed “the master of the Cardinal Stefan
his existence” – as A. Lorgus writes. The term “person” relates to man. An Wyszynski University
enriched understanding of this could be achieved by the cognitive double in Warsaw, for sverla
perspective which is derived from philosophy and psychology. The interpre- years president of the
tation of the functioning of the person is of course different in psychology Association of Chri-
and philosophy compared to theology. Each of these fields, however, reveals stian Psychologists
specific, interesting and important information about the person. (ACP) in Poland.
He is the author of
Describing the person in relation to his characteristics or attributes is closer several books and
to psychology than philosophy, which takes its orientation more from the articles in the field of
question of the essence of the human being. One important question, howe- psychology of religi-
ver, remains open: how does a person exist? Is a person a real existence or a on and pastoral psy-
hypothetical construct? chology.

The word “person” meant, for the Etruscans and Romans, the mask of an ac- romualdjaworski@wp.pl
tor, through which the voice of the actor sounded (“personus” – from “per-
sonare”). In Greece, the word prosopon was used, which is derived from the Articles by Romuald:
verb “to see, to be visible”. Persona (prosopon) played the role of the mes- http://emcapp.ignis.
senger. It was used to conceal direct experience of the actor and to present de/1/#/34
the state of the feelings of the hero represented. The ability to communicate http://emcapp.ignis.
(above all in dialogue) is a specific human disposition. This dimension of de/1/#/46
inter-personal communication also raises the question of the genuineness of http://emcapp.ignis.
the identity of the man who uses a mask. de/3/#/4
http://emcapp.ignis.
The identity of the human race is not the sum of the attributes (rationali- de/2/#/116
ty, freedom, dignity, responsibility), but the experience of oneself as subject
and object simultaneously. Andrey Lorgus rightly emphasises that the per-
son expresses itself in a certain attitude to others and to the world, and that
therapy is the motion towards a personal realisation, a returning-to-oneself,
a returning-to-others, and a returning-to-God.

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