Personalistyczna antropologia Johannesa B. Lotza SJ

Abstract

The article aims at presenting the anthropology of Johannes B. Lotz SJ (1903-1992), an outstanding German philosopher and theologian, a main representative of the Maréchalian Thomism in Germany (The German School of Maréchal). In Lotz’s philosophy there can be observed a confrontation of the systematic Thomism with the contemporary philosophy (philosophy of existence, philosophy of dialogue, personalism). Lotz’s anthropology is a synthesis of the ontological (Boetius) and the existential (M. Scheier, M. Heidegger, M. Buber, F. Ebner) theory of person. A human being can be called Dasein (the place where being appears), Ek-sistenz (the dynamism of man’s consciousness) or personne incarné (the in carnate person — the unity of body and mind). According to Lotz there are three kinds of human acts: theoria (knowledge), praxis (love) and poiesis (creation and production). The act of judgment plays a central role in the personal life. In every judgment a person finds an absolute and unconditioned horizon. Lotz also describes various dimensions of the communitarian life of the person (community and society). He agrees with the philosophy of dialogue (Buber, Ebner) in which the relationship ,,I-You” is exposed. Lotz’s philosophical anthropology joins with Christian anthropology, which interprets human existence in the light of Christian faith.