The body manifests the soul

[90Domer]

My apologies if you also saw this post in traditional Catholicism (goes to show you how clueless I am).

Has anyone heard of the term “the body manifests the soul”? I feel like I am supposed to know this, but I have no idea what it means. Did I miss an essential teaching of the CCC?

Thank you for considering. God bless.

 

[jonathan_hili]

Well, in Aristotelian-Thomistic philosophy, the soul is the form of the body, which essentially means that “the body manifests the soul”. Okay, so what does this mean? It means that the soul is the structural, life-giving element of the body (and by this, we don’t just mean the physical form, but also the emotional, mental and spiritual form). Without a human or rational soul, a human person would not only not be a person but would cease to be human. That’s why zombies are not human because while they have a body, they don’t have a human (rational) soul.

 

[Ad_Orientem]

Sounds like an equivalent way of saying “the soul is the form of the body.” This gets into Aristotle’s hylomorphic theory (matter and form), which St. Thomas adopts to express Catholic theology. Some people say we are a soul (trapped) inside a body, i.e. only the soul is the man; the body is superfluous. Catholic theology, on the other hand, says that we are a soul *and *a body. In philosophical terms, the soul is the form; the body is the matter.

 

[90Domer]

Well, in Aristotelian-Thomistic philosophy, the soul is the form of the body, which essentially means that “the body manifests the soul”. Okay, so what does this mean? It means that the soul is the structural, life-giving element of the body (and by this, we don’t just mean the physical form, but also the emotional, mental and spiritual form). Without a human or rational soul, a human person would not only not be a person but would cease to be human. That’s why zombies are not human because while they have a body, they don’t have a human (rational) soul.

Thank you for this reply. Can I ask one further question? I assume this takes place at the moment of conception. Are there ramifications to this event if you use assisted reproductive technology?

 

[GEddie]

Thank you for this reply. Can I ask one further question? I assume this takes place at the moment of conception. Are there ramifications to this event if you use assisted reproductive technology?

It is somewhat a mystery, one of several reasons the Church forbids the use of such technology.

But even if it were used, once there is a human zygote or embryo, there is a human soul. The soul is the life; there can be no genotypical human life without a human soul.

ICXC NIKA

 

[jonathan_hili]

Thank you for this reply. Can I ask one further question? I assume this takes place at the moment of conception. Are there ramifications to this event if you use assisted reproductive technology?

It does: the soul is exemplified in the body, and the body evidences the soul. In fact, Aquinas had to tackle this issue as how the soul could exist without the body in Heaven.

What do mean by using assisted reproductive technology?

 

[levinas12]

The body manifests the soul the way the paint in a portrait manifests the person being “portrayed”. Somehow, the event of the portrait “happens”.

“Matter” which is a “what” discloses a “who”. Wow.

 

[GEddie]

It does: the soul is exemplified in the body, and the body evidences the soul. In fact, Aquinas had to tackle this issue as how the soul could exist without the body in Heaven.

What do mean by using assisted reproductive technology?

I imagine this refers to things like IVF, cloning etc.

 

[jonathan_hili]

Ah, good question.

Well, a cloned person or one who is “conceived” through IVF would still have an individuated soul. While this means that ontologically the person is still a fully human being, made in the image and likeness of God, and therefore worthy of respect and love due to all people, these would be improper and immoral means of such conception because through them this very person’s dignity is undermined.