A New Concept of ‘Person’ in Wojtylian Philosophy: A Phenomenological and Metaphysical Analysis of The Acting Person Cover Image

Un nuevo concepto de ‘persona’ en la filosofía wojtyliana desde el análisis fenomenológico y metafísico en Persona y acción
A New Concept of ‘Person’ in Wojtylian Philosophy: A Phenomenological and Metaphysical Analysis of The Acting Person

Author(s): Pedro García Casas
Subject(s): Christian Theology and Religion, Philosophy, Theology and Religion
Published by: International Étienne Gilson Society
Keywords: Karol Wojtyła; person; personalism; action; phenomenology; anthropology; experience; transcendence; integration; subjectivity; irreducibility;

Summary/Abstract: This article discusses Karol Wojtyła’s study on the concept of “person” and its anthropological foundations. It refers to his great book: The Acting Person, in which Wojtyła approaches the reality of the person from the perspective of the person’s action. The article shows that, in his book, Wojtyła goes beyond classical Thomism by following the great intuitions of Personalism and Phenomenology and putting them at the service of an adequate anthropology that does justice to the reality of the person. Then it examines Wojtyła’s claims about: (1) the person as a source of validation of moral experience, (2) experience as a source of knowledge, (3) consciousness and the efficient causality of the person, (4) the transcendence of the person in action (self-determination), (5) the integration of the person in action, and finally (5) the person’s subjectivity and irreducibility. The article is aimed at delivering a framework to elaborate a metaethics that would contribute to the human person’s happiness and fulfillment.

  • Issue Year: 10/2021
  • Issue No: 3
  • Page Range: 635-666
  • Page Count: 32
  • Language: Spanish