Flashcards on Philosophical Foundations of Love and Human Nature
Philosophical Foundations of Love & Human Nature Explained
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Human Personhood
20 cards
Card 1
Question: How does the text describe the relationship between body and soul in a human person?
Answer: The body and soul form a single, inseparable unit; the human person is corporeal and spiritual and both parts are essential to personhood.
Card 2
Question: Why is it incorrect to treat the body as a thing we own or as merely a prison?
Answer: Because the body is an integral part of the person and has equal importance and value; we are not owners of the body nor prisoners of it.
Card 3
Question: What was the Manichaean view about the body, and how does the text evaluate it?
Answer: Manichaeism treated the body as bad or the source of problems; the text says this is erroneous and the body is neither bad nor unreal.
Card 4
Question: What happens to personhood if soul and body are artificially separated, according to the text?
Answer: If separated, there would no longer be a person or a living and existing reality.
Card 5
Question: Why is it wrong to consider only the soul or only the body as the entire person?
Answer: Because treating either part as the whole ignores the natural oneness of body and soul; both are necessary for a full human person.
Card 6
Question: How does the text define human sexual identity in relation to body and soul?
Answer: Being human includes being of a given sex (male or female), which is an expression of the whole person and rooted in corporeality.
Card 7
Question: When does biological sex, as described in the text, become established?
Answer: From the moment of fertilization when sperm and egg join, carrying either XX (female) or XY (male) chromosomes in every cell.
Card 8
Question: What are the three distinct levels of action that define an individual in human personhood, and which is the highest?
Answer: Physical, psychological, and spiritual levels; the spiritual level (intelligence and will) is the highest.
Card 9
Question: Which two capacities at the spiritual level are described as the person's most important assets?
Answer: Ability to think (intelligence/knowledge) and ability to love (will/freedom to choose).
Card 10
Question: What role should the spiritual level play relative to the other two levels?
Answer: The spiritual level must govern the physical and psychological levels.