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Exploring Personhood

An Introduction to the Philosophy of Human Nature

Joseph Torchia, OP

Exploring Personhood examines the metaphysical underpinnings of theories of human nature, personhood, and the self. The history of western philosophy provides the framework for broaching critical questions pertinent to these three topics. The book explores philosophical anthropology on its most foundational level, with a focus on the basic constituents of the unified self. The coverage of the work is broad in scope, moving from the Pre-Socratics to Postmodernism, critically assessing what transpired during the intervening 2500 year period, but with special attentiveness to the contributions of the Aristotelian/Thomistic tradition of inquiry. While each chapter can stand on its own, they collectively reveal a developing story that finds expression in diverse attempts to come to terms with what it means to be human, and how we understand ourselves as persons. This book is designed to meet the needs of a wide range of readers, from beginners to more advanced students.
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  • Author
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  • Reviews
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Rowman & Littlefield Publishers
Pages: 312 • Trim: 6¼ x 9⅜
978-0-7425-4837-4 • Hardback • October 2007 • $121.00 • (£93.00)
978-0-7425-4838-1 • Paperback • October 2007 • $56.00 • (£43.00)
978-0-7425-7946-0 • eBook • October 2007 • $53.00 • (£41.00)
Subjects: Philosophy / History & Surveys / Ancient & Classical, Philosophy / History & Surveys / Modern
Joseph Torchia, O.P., is associate professor of philosophy at Providence College. He is the editor-in-chief of The Thomist and the author of Plotinus, Tolma, and the Descent of Being: An Exposition and Analysis and Creatio ex nihilo and the Theology of St. Augustine: The Anti-Manichaean Polemic And Beyond.
Part 1 Preface
Chapter 2 A Point of Departure
Chapter 3 Focus and Methodology
Part 4 Introduction: Competing Anthropological Perspectives
Chapter 5 Human Nature and Personhood
Chapter 6 Toward a Metaphysics of Personhood
Chapter 7 A GeneralOverview: Content and Approach
Part 8 Part I: From Psyche to Anthropos
Part 9 Chapter I: In the Beginning: Defining Some Key Issues
Chapter 10 The Transition from Myth to Reason
Chapter 11 The Milesian Response
Chapter 12 Two Metaphysical Responses
Chapter 13 The Move Toward Reconciliation
Chapter 14 The Pythagorean Contribution
Chapter 15 The Anthropological Significance of It All
Part 16 Chapter II: Plato: The Primacy of Soul
Chapter 17 The Shift Toward Humanism
Chapter 18 The Sophistic Legacy
Chapter 19 Enter Socrates
Chapter 20 Socrates and Plato
Chapter 21 The Psychology of the Phaedo
Chapter 22 The Broader Anthropological Dimension
Part 23 Chapter III: Aristotle: The Human Composite
Chapter 24 Aristotle's Background and Development
Chapter 25 Theoretical Knowledge and Wisdom
Chapter 26 The Nature of Wisdom and Causality
Chapter 27 Aristotle and Plato
Chapter 28 Being and Substance
Chapter 29 Substance and Change
Chapter 30 The Psychology of the De Anima
Chapter 31 Soul, Body, and the Separable Intellect
Part 32 Part II: Human Nature and Personhood
Part 33 Chapter IV: St. Augustine: A Harmonious Union
Chapter 34 The Challenge of Christian Anthropology
Chapter 35 Augustine's Personal Experience
Chapter 36 Manichaeism and the Problem of Evil
Chapter 37 Augustine's Neoplatonic "Lens"
Chapter 38 Augustine's Definitions of Homo
Chapter 39 Augustine on the Person
Chapter 40 The Subjective Ego
Chapter 41 Moral and Cosmic Order
Part 42 Chapter V: St. Thomas Aquinas: A Subsistent Individual
Chapter 43 A Teacher's Life
Chapter 44 Aquinas on Sacra Doctrina
Chapter 45 A Metaphysics of Esse
Chapter 46 Humans Beings, Being Human
Chapter 47 The Status of the Soul
Chapter 48 The Composite Human
Chapter 49 The Powers of the Soul
Chapter 50 The Fact of Psychosomatic Union
Chapter 51 Aquinas' Metaphysics of Personhood
Chapter 52 Trinitarian and Christological Background
Chapter 53 Subsistence and the Person
Chapter 54 The Primacy of Esse
Chapter 55 The Person as Free Agent
Part 56 Part III: Minds and Bodies
Part 57 Chapter VI: Rene Descartes: The Ghost in the Machine
Chapter 58 Descartes and His Mission
Chapter 59 A Believing Man of Reason
Chapter 60 Forging a Method
Chapter 61 Affirming the Cogito
Chapter 62 The Role of God
Chapter 63 The Challenge of Hyperbolic Doubt
Chapter 64 That I Am, What I Am
Chapter 65 An Experiment
Chapter 66 Mind, Body, and World
Chapter 67 The Bodily Mechanism
Chapter 68 Mind-Body Interaction: An Uneasy Alliance
Chapter 69 Where Mind and Body Meet
Chapter 70 Assessing the Cartesian Compromise
Part 71 Chapter VII: David Hume: A Bundle of Perceptions
Chapter 72 Hume's Newtonian Model
Chapter 73 A Science of Human Nature
Chapter 74 The Origin of Ideas
Chapter 75 Hume on Causality
Chapter 76 Personal Identity and the Self
Chapter 77 Assessing Hume on Personal Identity
Part 78 Part IV: Humanity and Personhood
Part 79 Chapter VIII: Postmodernism: Humans, Persons, and Non-Persons
Chapter 80 Postmodern Philosophy: A Broad Overview
Chapter 81 The Consciousness Criterion of Personhood
Chapter 82 The Bioethical Dimension
Chapter 83 Postmodernism and Incommensurability
Part 84 Chapter IX: Our Interpersonal Journey
Chapter 85 A Teleological Model
Chapter 86 An Infinite Horizon
Chapter 87 Knowing and Willing
Chapter 88 A Participation Scheme
Chapter 89 The Being of Persons
Chapter 90 Subsistence and Selfhood
Chapter 91 Substantiality and Relationality
Chapter 92 Embodied Spirits
Chapter 93 The Unity of Self
Chapter 94 A Moral Cosmos
Chapter 95 Life as Quest
Part 96 Epilogue: In Search of an Irreducible Self
Chapter 97 The Challenge of Reductionism
Chapter 98 A Quantum Theory of Consciousness
Chapter 99 The Causal Role of Mind
Chapter 100 Human and Animal Intelligence
Chapter 101 Embodied Spirits and Our World
Readers undeterred by fears of "foundationalism" will appreciate Torchia's study as a hearty meal in a day when so many offerings are thin and unsatisfying. . . . Exploring Personhood is modestly offered as an "alternative account." It is an account that deserves attention, especially by those disinclined to examine it.
— Theological Studies, September 1, 2009


Exploring Personhood is much more than an introductory text. It argues for the Thomistic view of the human person in our world of seemingly irreconcilable pluralism in philosophy through a sweeping survey of the history of Western philosophy from the Presocratics to Postmodernism.
— Roland Teske, S.J., Marquette University


Exploring Personhood

An Introduction to the Philosophy of Human Nature

Cover Image
Hardback
Paperback
eBook
Summary
Summary
  • Exploring Personhood examines the metaphysical underpinnings of theories of human nature, personhood, and the self. The history of western philosophy provides the framework for broaching critical questions pertinent to these three topics. The book explores philosophical anthropology on its most foundational level, with a focus on the basic constituents of the unified self. The coverage of the work is broad in scope, moving from the Pre-Socratics to Postmodernism, critically assessing what transpired during the intervening 2500 year period, but with special attentiveness to the contributions of the Aristotelian/Thomistic tradition of inquiry. While each chapter can stand on its own, they collectively reveal a developing story that finds expression in diverse attempts to come to terms with what it means to be human, and how we understand ourselves as persons. This book is designed to meet the needs of a wide range of readers, from beginners to more advanced students.
Details
Details
  • Rowman & Littlefield Publishers
    Pages: 312 • Trim: 6¼ x 9⅜
    978-0-7425-4837-4 • Hardback • October 2007 • $121.00 • (£93.00)
    978-0-7425-4838-1 • Paperback • October 2007 • $56.00 • (£43.00)
    978-0-7425-7946-0 • eBook • October 2007 • $53.00 • (£41.00)
    Subjects: Philosophy / History & Surveys / Ancient & Classical, Philosophy / History & Surveys / Modern
Author
Author
  • Joseph Torchia, O.P., is associate professor of philosophy at Providence College. He is the editor-in-chief of The Thomist and the author of Plotinus, Tolma, and the Descent of Being: An Exposition and Analysis and Creatio ex nihilo and the Theology of St. Augustine: The Anti-Manichaean Polemic And Beyond.
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
  • Part 1 Preface
    Chapter 2 A Point of Departure
    Chapter 3 Focus and Methodology
    Part 4 Introduction: Competing Anthropological Perspectives
    Chapter 5 Human Nature and Personhood
    Chapter 6 Toward a Metaphysics of Personhood
    Chapter 7 A GeneralOverview: Content and Approach
    Part 8 Part I: From Psyche to Anthropos
    Part 9 Chapter I: In the Beginning: Defining Some Key Issues
    Chapter 10 The Transition from Myth to Reason
    Chapter 11 The Milesian Response
    Chapter 12 Two Metaphysical Responses
    Chapter 13 The Move Toward Reconciliation
    Chapter 14 The Pythagorean Contribution
    Chapter 15 The Anthropological Significance of It All
    Part 16 Chapter II: Plato: The Primacy of Soul
    Chapter 17 The Shift Toward Humanism
    Chapter 18 The Sophistic Legacy
    Chapter 19 Enter Socrates
    Chapter 20 Socrates and Plato
    Chapter 21 The Psychology of the Phaedo
    Chapter 22 The Broader Anthropological Dimension
    Part 23 Chapter III: Aristotle: The Human Composite
    Chapter 24 Aristotle's Background and Development
    Chapter 25 Theoretical Knowledge and Wisdom
    Chapter 26 The Nature of Wisdom and Causality
    Chapter 27 Aristotle and Plato
    Chapter 28 Being and Substance
    Chapter 29 Substance and Change
    Chapter 30 The Psychology of the De Anima
    Chapter 31 Soul, Body, and the Separable Intellect
    Part 32 Part II: Human Nature and Personhood
    Part 33 Chapter IV: St. Augustine: A Harmonious Union
    Chapter 34 The Challenge of Christian Anthropology
    Chapter 35 Augustine's Personal Experience
    Chapter 36 Manichaeism and the Problem of Evil
    Chapter 37 Augustine's Neoplatonic "Lens"
    Chapter 38 Augustine's Definitions of Homo
    Chapter 39 Augustine on the Person
    Chapter 40 The Subjective Ego
    Chapter 41 Moral and Cosmic Order
    Part 42 Chapter V: St. Thomas Aquinas: A Subsistent Individual
    Chapter 43 A Teacher's Life
    Chapter 44 Aquinas on Sacra Doctrina
    Chapter 45 A Metaphysics of Esse
    Chapter 46 Humans Beings, Being Human
    Chapter 47 The Status of the Soul
    Chapter 48 The Composite Human
    Chapter 49 The Powers of the Soul
    Chapter 50 The Fact of Psychosomatic Union
    Chapter 51 Aquinas' Metaphysics of Personhood
    Chapter 52 Trinitarian and Christological Background
    Chapter 53 Subsistence and the Person
    Chapter 54 The Primacy of Esse
    Chapter 55 The Person as Free Agent
    Part 56 Part III: Minds and Bodies
    Part 57 Chapter VI: Rene Descartes: The Ghost in the Machine
    Chapter 58 Descartes and His Mission
    Chapter 59 A Believing Man of Reason
    Chapter 60 Forging a Method
    Chapter 61 Affirming the Cogito
    Chapter 62 The Role of God
    Chapter 63 The Challenge of Hyperbolic Doubt
    Chapter 64 That I Am, What I Am
    Chapter 65 An Experiment
    Chapter 66 Mind, Body, and World
    Chapter 67 The Bodily Mechanism
    Chapter 68 Mind-Body Interaction: An Uneasy Alliance
    Chapter 69 Where Mind and Body Meet
    Chapter 70 Assessing the Cartesian Compromise
    Part 71 Chapter VII: David Hume: A Bundle of Perceptions
    Chapter 72 Hume's Newtonian Model
    Chapter 73 A Science of Human Nature
    Chapter 74 The Origin of Ideas
    Chapter 75 Hume on Causality
    Chapter 76 Personal Identity and the Self
    Chapter 77 Assessing Hume on Personal Identity
    Part 78 Part IV: Humanity and Personhood
    Part 79 Chapter VIII: Postmodernism: Humans, Persons, and Non-Persons
    Chapter 80 Postmodern Philosophy: A Broad Overview
    Chapter 81 The Consciousness Criterion of Personhood
    Chapter 82 The Bioethical Dimension
    Chapter 83 Postmodernism and Incommensurability
    Part 84 Chapter IX: Our Interpersonal Journey
    Chapter 85 A Teleological Model
    Chapter 86 An Infinite Horizon
    Chapter 87 Knowing and Willing
    Chapter 88 A Participation Scheme
    Chapter 89 The Being of Persons
    Chapter 90 Subsistence and Selfhood
    Chapter 91 Substantiality and Relationality
    Chapter 92 Embodied Spirits
    Chapter 93 The Unity of Self
    Chapter 94 A Moral Cosmos
    Chapter 95 Life as Quest
    Part 96 Epilogue: In Search of an Irreducible Self
    Chapter 97 The Challenge of Reductionism
    Chapter 98 A Quantum Theory of Consciousness
    Chapter 99 The Causal Role of Mind
    Chapter 100 Human and Animal Intelligence
    Chapter 101 Embodied Spirits and Our World
Reviews
Reviews
  • Readers undeterred by fears of "foundationalism" will appreciate Torchia's study as a hearty meal in a day when so many offerings are thin and unsatisfying. . . . Exploring Personhood is modestly offered as an "alternative account." It is an account that deserves attention, especially by those disinclined to examine it.
    — Theological Studies, September 1, 2009


    Exploring Personhood is much more than an introductory text. It argues for the Thomistic view of the human person in our world of seemingly irreconcilable pluralism in philosophy through a sweeping survey of the history of Western philosophy from the Presocratics to Postmodernism.
    — Roland Teske, S.J., Marquette University


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