The problem of the emotionalisation of consciousness in Person and Act by Karol Wojtyła
The problem of the emotionalisation of consciousness in Person and Act by Karol Wojtyła

Summary/Abstract: The article examines the relationship between consciousness and the emotiveness of the person based on the philosophical anthropology outlined in Karol Wojtyła's Person and Act. Drawing from Wojtyła's work, the paper describes how emotions and sensations impact human consciousness, leading to the phenomenon known as the emotionalisation of consciousness. Wojtyła, deeply rooted in the Thomistic philosophical tradition and enriching it with phenomenological elements, created an original description of human consciousness as a constitutive, partially passive and partially active dimension of the human person, reflecting and interiorizing the content of the person's knowledge and self-knowledge. By emotiveness, Wojtyła understands the person's emotions, feelings, and sensations, which play a pivotal role in their life as a person, but can simultaneously disrupt the functioning of consciousness. High intensity or great variability of emotional facts leads to the breakdown of self-knowledge, and consequently to the "takeover" and "overwhelming" of the person's consciousness by them, which completely and passively submits to their influence. The article shows how this process occurs, points to its consequences for the person's inner life and actions, and offers proposals for preventing it by strengthening various faculties of the person (such as self-knowledge) so they do not succumb to the negative influence of emotional factors.

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