Two children posing in front of the camera.
In everyday language, the word person refers to a being with the power of reasoning that is self-aware and has its own identity . The exclusive example is usually man , although some extend the concept to other species that populate this planet.
A person is a being capable of living in society and who has sensitivity, in addition to having intelligence and will, typical aspects of humanity. For psychology , a person is someone specific (the concept covers the physical and psychological aspects of the subject that define it based on its singular and unique status).
The notion of person in law
In the field of law , a person is any entity that, due to its characteristics, is entitled to have rights and assume obligations . That is why we talk about different types of people: natural persons (as human beings are defined) and people of ideal or legal existence (a group where corporations , companies , the State , social organizations , etc. are grouped).
Physical or natural persons are contemplated from a concept of legal nature that was developed by Roman jurists. Currently, natural persons have, by the mere fact of existing , various attributes recognized by law.
Legal or moral persons are those entities that, to carry out certain purposes of collective scope , are supported by legal norms that recognize their capacity to be holders of rights and contract obligations.
Definitions and traditions
In philosophy the concept of person has been the subject of extensive debates. Among the theories that have been developed there are three that have gained the most acceptance.
Persona is a Latin term that has its equivalent in Greek and is prosopon , which refers to the masks used by actors in classical theater . In this way, according to etymology we could say that prosopon person means character .
Another etymological explanation states that person comes from persono, which comes from the infinitive personare, which means to make one's voice sound . It may have a connection with the previous explanation insofar as actors perform this action to make themselves heard in the theater.
The third theory is inclined to find the meaning of the term in a legal root , considering that it refers to a legal subject, with duties and obligations. It is the theory that has most firmly influenced philosophical and theological uses.
It should be noted that the basic grammatical feature reflected by the so-called personal pronouns is called a grammatical person . This property provides the possibility of regulating the deictic mode that is required to determine what role the speaker, the listeners and the rest of those involved in the structure of the preaching occupy. In the Spanish language, there are three grammatical persons in the singular and another three persons in the plural.
Person with coat and beard.
The person according to philosophy
The intellectual Saint Augustine stated that an individual could be considered a person for his capacity for self-reflection , that is, being aware of his limitations and responsibilities before God, he must analyze each of his actions so that they do not betray him and take him away from the path. of truth and happiness (most of the theologians of the Catholic Church are based on this theory).
One of the fundamental authors when defining the concept of person is Boethius . His theory about the concept is the most accepted today. It says that a person is naturae rationalis individua substantia . That is to say, it is rational in nature and it is reason that serves to demonstrate its individual essence. I am implying that before being a sociable being , the individual is a person, free and with the capacity to reason and decide about his or her actions.
For its part, contemporary anthropology affirms that the person is a structural whole that opens to the world and other living beings. An independent and free subject in front of other objects and subjects.
To conclude, we can say that there are five ways to define the concept, taking into account the ideological line and interests of the person who defines it. These are:
*Person as substance: atribución de propiedades particulares tales como independencia y raciocinio (Aristóteles, Boecia y Edad Media).
*Person as a thinking being: un sujeto epistemológico donde la razón supera a su existencia física (Pensamiento Moderno).
*Person as an ethical being: individuo absolutamente libre, pero sujeto a una obligación moral, respondiendo a un conjunto de leyes divinas antes que a las leyes de su propia naturaleza (Estoicos, Kant y Fichte).
*Person as a legal entity: individuo sujeto a leyes intrínsecas de su esencia que están relacionadas con los derechos universales. Dicha característica, está por encima de la esencia ética del ser.
*religious person: individuos ligados a una fe, cumpliendo mandatos divinos y buscando la verdadera libertad. (Existencialismo y Personalismo, tradición judeo-cristiana, San Agustín, Pascal, Kierkegaard).