Struktura osobowego bytu ludzkiego w pismach Edyty Stein

Abstract

According to Edith Stein the human being consists of a body, a soul and a spirit. Although the soul is something immaterial, it is a “space” which consists of various layers. The body is the most external layer of the soul, which enables the soul to-be-in-the-world. The most internal layer of the soul is the spirit. The layers of the soul are given to us in experience, for example the decision about our vocation comes from a deeper part of the soul than a decision about going for a walk. We can also see it when a stimulus acts on us: our reaction can be either determined by a stimulus or a stimulus can only have a soft impact on us, or even our reaction can be considered completely. It depends on which layer of the soul my personal self lives. E. Stein distinguishes the pure self, the personal self and the substantial self. The pure self is the center of our cognition. It is a “point” in a “space” which my soul is. The basis for the distinction between the pure self and the personal self is the fact that I can be conscious of my heartbeat, regardless of my will, my heart beats and I am not able to decide about the speed of its beating, as I am able to decide about moving my hand. The substantial self is present in every dimension of my human being, it gives the whole human being the existence. And that is the difference which lets E. Stein to distinguish between the pure self and the substantial self. The center of the substantial self is a human spirit and this is also the natural place for the pure and personal self, but as a result of some kind of breakdown in the human being, the pure self and the personal self are not present there, but in shallower layers of the soul.