Syllabus
1. Definition of philosophical anthropology.
2. Preliminary characterization of the concept of a person.
3. The ancient concept of a person.
4. The medieval concept of a person.
5. The modern concept of a person.
6. Current concepts of the person.
7. Cognitive and desiring abilities of the human person.
8. The human person as composed of soul and body.
Annotation
The course introduces the basic concepts of philosophical and Christian anthropology. It is conceived as a preparatory study for the following studies of ethics. The subject-matter of the course are three related thematic areas, namely the issue of the person, the cognitive and appetitive powers of a human person and finally the soul and body as constitutive principles of a human person. The aim of the course is to explain the theoretical foundations of philosophical anthropology on which students can build in other ethics courses (e.g. human dignity as a source of human rights and duties, freedom of decision as a prerequisite for meaningful moral life, duties and commutative justice, etc.). Emphasis is placed on clarifying the connection of basic anthropological concepts and principles with ethical thinking.
The exam will be oral and its theme will be what was given in lectures, plus an interview on compulsory literature.