The Consequences of forgetting that human beings must be considered as persons.
Human beings are a unity of body and soul. The soul can be described as the organizing principle of a living being. It is what gives from to living matter and distinguishes it from inert matter. In human beings the soul does not stop at being merely an organizing principle but is also responsible for the higher faculties proper to human beings namely intelligence, will and freedom. It is therefore only upon the human being that the dignity of personhood can be conferred. This immutable dignity of the human person, if forgotten, can have dire consequences.
Firstly, it has become evident that in modern society materialism predominates. It can be said that wealth and power are the standards against which everything, including the value of human beings, is judged. Human beings are thus judged according to what they can do and what they possess and not in terms of who they are. By such standards, man’s value fluctuates according to how much or how little of these he possesses. However, man is more than just capabilities or possessions. The nature of the human person ensures that he is endowed with the capacity for self-awareness, rationality and free choice. While these capacities are developed to greater or lesser degrees in each person, they ensure that each person is endowed with equal dignity. Therefore lesser possessions or power do not lessen a person.
This skewed value system also has led to a general permissiveness which has impacted the most fundamental aspects of life. This can be seen most starkly in the areas of sexuality and marriage. Any form of sexual expression now seems valid especially since sexuality has been delinked from marriage. Sexuality is chiefly valued for pleasure (the satisfaction of the sensible appetites) and not equally for its objective purpose-procreation. It follows then that marriage is no longer generally accepted as the proper domain of sexual activity. The consequences of this paradigm shift are evident throughout society.
Men and women, rather than seeking the good of each other, seek self-gratification by using each other mainly through the use of each other’s bodies. Children are increasingly born outside of the indissoluble union of marriage or artificial barriers are used to prevent this, leading to a disintegration of the family. Consequently society deteriorates, since the family is the “fundamental unit of society.” The implications of forgetting the human person are therefore far reaching.
At the societal level a utilitarian view of human beings can also be seen. More and more, unless human beings fulfil a function, they can easily be considered inferior or useless. At the extreme this can impact persons at different stages of development. Therefore the unborn, the elderly or the disabled become expendable as they have not yet developed or no longer can exercise the capacity for self-awareness, rationality and self-determination. Thus laws permitting abortion and euthanasia are becoming increasingly prevalent, particularly in developed countries.
Additionally, this debasement of human beings has made them open to manipulation through science and technology. Therefore, experimenting on human beings at their earliest and most vulnerable stage of development, through embryonic stem cell research in which the human embryo is destroyed, is also seen as justified to the extent that it has also been legalized in many countries. The human embryo is not viewed as a person at his or her earliest stage of development despite possessing the active disposition to develop, through growth and nutrition, toward the mature stage of a human being.
Scientific manipulation of the human person is also taking place within the realm of sexuality. Thus gender reassignment surgery is now widely encouraged and practiced since gender is no longer accepted as an unchangeable biological determinant of the human person. The person therefore determines his or her gender instead of gender determining the person.
There is also an increasing interchangeability of gender roles in society. Women in particular are increasingly pressured to adopt more masculine modes of behavior in an attempt to grasp at equality with men. Gender diversity thus seems incompatible with gender equality. However, the differences between the sexes, speak to a beautiful and harmonious complementarity stamped into human nature. This complementarity is particularly conducive to the forming of families.
The dignity of the human person therefore should not be disregarded. Persons are not their possessions or capabilities and should not be valued for such. The capacity for the higher faculties of intelligence, will and freedom ensures that each person possesses equal dignity at every stage of development. This identity has implications for how persons are treated particularly the most vulnerable in society.
