DEMNITATEA CONDIȚIEI UMANE ÎN OPERA LUI PORFIR
THE DIGNITY OF THE HUMAN CONDITION IN PORPHYRY’S WORK

Summary/Abstract: Porphyry designs human being as an association between body and soul. The superiority returns to the soul, its divine and immortal part, which represents the essence of man, while the body, its perishable part, is only the image of the soul, its headquarters and sensitive instrument. The dignity of the human condition arises from the fact that the human soul has the same nature as the soul of the gods, which determines many similarities between them, like life, simplicity, immortality, invisibility, inclination to truth, intelligence. But the animal’s soul has the same divine nature. However, the soul of man is superior because it has a higher degree of intelligence, and because it forms a set with another body type, allowing it to actuate specifically. When the soul mixes with the body, it becomes corrupt and dispersed in the matter, being affected of what is happening with the body. So it degrades its condition and leads a precarious life, plain of turbulence, unworthy of his real spiritual, intelligible nature. To get rid of the tyranny of the body and to regain its authentic condition, the soul must be liberated of its passions. In this way the soul of man can return to its native country, the sky meaning the sphere of God, regaining his dignity and giving to the individual his supreme happiness.

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