The Concept of Relation in the Thomistic Perception of a Person Cover Image

The Concept of Relation in the Thomistic Perception of a Person
The Concept of Relation in the Thomistic Perception of a Person

Author(s): Eleni Procopiou
Subject(s): Anthropology, Philosophy, Social Sciences, Philosophical Traditions, Special Branches of Philosophy
Published by: International Étienne Gilson Society
Keywords: relation; person; Thomism; nature; anthropology; metaphysics; God; society;

Summary/Abstract: The article aims to show that the connection of the metaphysics of being with Aristotle’s philosophy of nature allows for the composition of anthropology per se which involves the concept of a person as it emerges from the two fundamental issues: the metaphysical approach to a person ontologically connected with nature, and the concept of a person as relation. The article concludes with the claim that, in Thomistic anthropology, the supernatural world of persons coexists with the natural world of persons who are subject to cosmic order and legal relations. Thus, a person’s inclusion in the framework of legal relations and its ontological liberation in the supernatural field open up the way for the social acknowledgement of the human person.

  • Issue Year: 5/2016
  • Issue No: 4
  • Page Range: 619-632
  • Page Count: 14
  • Language: English