HUMAN LIMITATIONS AND THE POSSIBILITY OF TRANSCENDENCE

 RECALL: What are the three theories on the nature of the human person?
 Intelligence is not the same as consciousness.

Consciousness - is the state or quality of awareness, or, of being aware of an external object or something
within oneself.

The Human Person as an Embodied Spirit

 Human existence is embodied existence.
 Many things related to our existence as persons are related to bodies – age, sex, race, relationships, etc.

Embodiment - refers to the biological and physical presence of our bodies, which are a necessary precondition
for subjectivity, emotion, language, thought and social interaction

 QUESTION: What does it mean to have a body?

Limitations of the Human Person as an Embodied Spirit

1. Facticity
 Refers to the things in our life that are already given
 Refers to all the details that surround us in the present: our environment, our language, our past
decisions, our past and present relationships, and even our future death.
2. Spatial-temporal Beings
 As temporal beings, our most obvious limitation is our finitude – our finite quality or state.
 As spatial beings, we are limited by our bodies to be present in two or more places at the same time.
 We are limited by space (spatial) and time (temporal).
 Our spatial-temporal situation sets our preconditions of understanding.
3. The Body as Intermediary
 Intermediary means acting as a mediator (Merriam-Webster).
 Our body serves as an intermediary between us and the physical world.
 Our body limits our experience of the world to our world.
 This imposes limitations concerning communication and expression.

Transcendence - is the ability to change, be dynamic, and continually redefining one’s self which works with our
facticity to create change.
 QUESTION: How can we transcend our limitations?
1. Facticity
 At times we use our facticity as an excuse for our difficulties and failures.
2. Spatial-temporal Beings
 We are more concerned with the past and/or future that is why we never appreciate the present.
 We cannot be at the place where we want to be at an instant.
3. The Body as Intermediary
 Having a body may prevent us from disclosing what we really want to express.