Page 160 - EMCAPP-Journal No. 8

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Dignity corresponds to morality. Morality is based on such attributes
of the person as these: awareness, freedom and responsibility. Personal
freedom is not expressed in the fact that the human being is driven by his
internal instincts or environmental stimuli, but is guided by the ability
to act intuitively. The ability to trigger intentions is one of the characteri-
stics defining a person. It forms the basis of responsibility for the quality
of life and for holiness.

A person is able to give, to transcend himself, to sacrifice himself. This
ability to give, to give away, presupposes self-possession. I can only give
what I have. When I give, I not only make others richer, but also myself,
because I realise the most characteristic human ability – the ability to
love. Love is an expression of personal life. Johannes Paul II said: “The
5
question of human free will is tied up with the dialectic of the power of
the will (I can) and the will for power (I can).” The following questions
are therefore still relevant: “Where can I go?”, “What can I do?”. E. Kant
wrote: “Act so that you always see humankind, both in your person and
in the person of everyone else, as a purpose, never simply as a means”. 6

There are many difficult questions surrounding the interpretation of per-
son. One great difficulty is the question of physical and mental integrity
and the mystery of death. How does man receive a body and a spirit?
It should not be forgotten that the term “person” is used in explaining
theological truths, especially the Christian doctrine of the Trinity, as well
as in the Christological interpretation of the two natures (divine and hu-
man) which are united in the one person of the Son of God, Jesus Christ.
This topic, however, is avoided in psychology, although its psychological
interpretation (remaining faithful to the theological meaning) could be
fruitful heuristically in the search for an understanding in depth of hu-
man experience and behaviour.

5 K. Wojtyła, Person und Tat. Lublin, 1994.
6 I. Kant, Die Grundlegung zur Metaphysik der Sitten, Warsaw, 1984, p. 62.

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