Outline of The Acting Person by Karol Wojtyla

This list is made from the chapter and section headings of the book


CHAPTER ONE - THE ACTING PERSON IN THE ASPECT OF CONSCIOUSNESS

1.THE ACTING PERSON IN THE ASPECT OF CONSCIOUSNESS

                        The Act in Its Traditional Interpretation

Action as Peculiar to the Person

Voluntariness as Indication of Consciousness

2. THE ATTEMPT TO DISCERN CONSCIOUSNESS IN THE "HUMAN ACT"

Is this Analysis Possible and Necessary?

How Is Consciousness Implied in the Human Act?

In what Sense Is "Consciousness" Used Here?

Consciousness Is not an Autonomous Subject

3. CONSCIOUSNESS AND SELF-KNOWLEDGE

Consciousness Conditioned by Its Reflecting Function

Consciousness Opened to the Ego by Self-Knowledge

Self-Knowledge as the Basis of Self-Consciousness

The Specific Position of Self-Knowledge in the Totality of Human Cognition

4. THE TWOFOLD FUNCTION OF CONSCIOUSNESS AND THE EXPERIENCE OF SUBJECTIVENESS

Mirroring and Experience

Experience of the Ego Conditioned by the Reflexive Function of Consciousness

The Ego Constituted as the Subject

The Experiential Manifestation of Human Spirituality

Consciousness and the Experience of Action in the Dimension of Moral Values

How Does the Ego Help in Understanding Man?

5. THE EMOTIONALIZATION OF CONSCIOUSNESS

The Element of Consciousness and the Emotive Element in Man

What Does the Emotionalization of Consciousness Consist in?

Emotionalization and the Twofold Function of Consciousness: Mirroring and Experience

6. SUBJECTIVITY AND SUBJECTIVISM

Subjectivity Inherent in the Reality of the Acting Person

The Difference between Subjectivity and Subjectivism

Conclusions Leading to the Analysis of Human Efficacy

CHAPTER TWO - AN ANALYSIS OF EFFICACY IN THE LIGHT OF HUMAN DYNAMISM

1. THE BASIC CONCEPTIONS AND DIFFERENTIATIONS OF HUMAN DYNAMISM

Introductory Remarks on the Relation of Dynamism to Consciousness

The Juxtaposition of "To Act" and "To Happen" as the Experiential Basis of Activeness and Passiveness

The Potency and Act Conjugate as Conceptual Homologue of Dynamism

The Ambiguity of the Concept of "Act" and Differentiation of the Experiences of Acting and Happening

2. THE DEFINITION OF EFFICACY

                   The Experience of Efficacy and the Differentiation of the Experiences of Acting and Happening

The Experience of Efficacy and the Causal Relation of Person and Action

The Experience of Efficacy and Man's Transcendence of His Acting

The Experience of Efficacy and the Differentiation of Action out of Various Activations

Man "Creates" Himself in Action: the Roots of Human Ethos

3. THE SYNTHESIS OF EFFICACY AND SUBJECTIVENESS. THE PERSON AS A BASIC ONTOLOGICAL STRUCTURE

The Differentiation between Acting and Happening Contrasts Efficacy with Subjectiveness in Man

How the Subject is an Ontological Basis of Action

Man's Ontological Foundation of Action

Differences between Efficacy and Subjectiveness and Their Synthesis

4. THE PERSON AND NATURE: THEIR OPPOSITION OR INTEGRATION?

The Significance of the Problem

Nature Defines the Subjective Basis of Acting

Nature Determines the Manner of Acting

Why the Antagonistic Conception of Nature and Person?

Why the Integrated Conception of Nature in Person?

5. NATURE AS THE BASIS FOR THE DYNAMIC COHESION OF THE PERSON

Efficacy of the Person and Causality of Nature

The Meaning of the "Priority" of Existence over Action

Personal Existence as the Basis of the Dynamic Cohesion of Man

Person as the Real Existence of Human Nature

6. POTENTIALITY AND ITS RELATION TO CONSCIOUSNESS

The Nature-Person Relation in the Potentiality of the Man -Subject

Potentiality Indicates the Source of the Inner Dynamization of the Subject

The Different Basis of Activity and Passivity in the Potentiality of Man

The Relation of Consciousness to Psychoemotive Potentiality

The Relation of Consciousness to Somato-Vegetative Potentiality

7. THE RELATION OF POTENTIALITY TO CONSCIOUSNESS EXPRESSED BY SUBCONSCIOUSNESS

Potentiality Comes before Consciousness

Consciousness and the Delimitation of the Psychical and the Somatic

Introducing Subconsciousness into the Analysis

The Relation of Subconsciousness to the Dynamism and Potentiality of Man

Subconsciousness Shows Consciousness as the Sphere of Man's Self-realization

8. MAN IN BECOMING: THE MANIFESTATION OF FREEDOM IN THE DYNAMISM OF THE MAN-SUBJECT

The Being-Acting-Becoming Relation

The Subject's Differentiated Potentiality and the Corresponding Spheres of Man's Becoming and Development

Actions Make Man Good or Bad

Freedom Is the Root of Man's Goodness or Badness

The Moment of Freedom Emerges from the Analysis of Human Dynamism. Freedom and Efficacy of the Person

CHAPTER THREE - THE PERSONAL STRUCTURE OF SELF-DETERMINATION

1. THE FUNDAMENTALS OF THE PERSONAL STRUCTURE OF SELF-DETERMINATION

In Self-Determination the Will Is Seen as an Essential of the Person

Self-Determination Shows the Structure of Self-Governance and Self-Possession as Essential to the Person

Self-Possession Is Presupposed in Self-Governance

2. AN ATTEMPT TO INTERPRET THE INTEGRAL DYNAMISM OF THE WILL

The Reference to the Ego as Object Is Essential to Self-Determination

Objectification Is More Fundamental than the Intentionality of Volitions

Self-Determination and the Distinction between the Experiences of "I will" and "I am willing"

The Experience of "I will" Reveals the Transcendence of the Person in the Action

In Self-Determination the Reference to the Ego as Object Is Influenced by Consciousness

The Will Is Governed by the Objectifying Function of Cognition

The Dialectics of Objectification and Subjectification Appropriate to the Integral Dynamism of Will

The Immanent Act Is Also an External Manifestation of the Person

3. FREE WILL AS THE BASIS OF THE TRANSCENDENCE OF THE ACTING PERSON

Self-Determination Reveals Freedom as a Uniquely Personal Factor

The Difference between the Dynamisms of Self-Determination and Instinct

Free Will Reflects the Self-Dependence of the Person

The Contextual Meaning of the Transcendence of the Person

The Role of the Objectification of the Ego in the Structure of Freedom

4. THE SiGNIFICANCE OF THE WILL AS THE PERSON'S POWER OF SELF-DETERMINATION

Autodeterminism Conditions Independence in Relation to Intentional Objects of Volition

The Dynamism of Self-Determination Consists in Man's Use of the Will

The Meaning of the Instinct of Freedom

The Meaning of the Phrase "Man's Instinctive Acting"

5. DECISION IS THE FOCUS OF THE ACTIVITIES OF FREE WILL

                        Transcendence versus Appetite

Appetition, Intendedness, and Intentionality

Decision as the Crucial Constitutive Moment in the Experience of "I will"

Readiness to Strive toward Good Underlies All Volitive Decisions

6. RESPONSIBILITY IN THE ACTS OF WILL-MOTIVATION AND RESPONSE

What Is Motivation?

The Motivation of Simple Willing and the Motivation of Choice

The Ability to Decide Is Seen in Choosing

Free Will Manifests Itself in an Independent Determination of Objects

The Original Dynamism of Acts of Will Disproves Moral Determinism

The Act of Will as the Person's Response to the Appeal of Values

7. THE MOMENT OF "TRUTH ABOUT GOOD" AS THE BASIS FOR THE ACTING PERSON'S PERCEPTION AND TRANSCENDENCE

Dynamic Structure of the Object Common to Cognition and Will

The Will's Reference to Truth as the Inner Principle of Decision

The Will's Dependence on Truth and Independence of Objects

The Moment of Truth and the Moral Value of Actions

8. THE COGNITIVE EXPERIENCE OF VALUES AS THE CONDITION OF CHOICE AND DECISION

Motivation Leads the Will Out of Initial Indetermination

The Special Nature of Cognition as Condition of an Act of Will

The Moment of Truth about Good is Essential in the Experiencing of Values

The Axiological Truth and the So-called "Practical Truth"

9. THE CREATIVE ROLE OF INTUITION IS UNDIMINISHED BY THE JUDGMENT OF VALUES

Thought and the Efficacy of the Subject

In Judgment Man Has the Experience of Himself as the Agent of Thought

Correspondence of Judgment and Decision

The Creative Role of Intuition in the Discursive Perception of Values

CHAPTER FOUR - SELF-DETERMINATION AND FULFILLMENT

1. PERFORMING AN ACTION BRINGS PERSONAL FULFILLMENT

The Crucial Significance of Fulfillment in an Action

The Inner and Intransitive Effects of an Action

Self-Fulfillment in Action Is Presupposed in Morality

2. THE RELIANCE OF SELF-FULFILLMENT ON THE CONSCIENCE

The Moral Dimension of the Person's Fulfillment in an Action

The Contingency of the Human Person as Revealed by Self-Fulfillment

Action's Dependence on the Recognition of Moral Goodness as Revealed by the Conscience

The Person's Transcendence and its Relation to Truth, Good, Beauty

The Conscience as the Person's Inner Normative Reality

The Conscience as the Source of Norms of Actions Conditions the Fulfillment of the Person

3. CONSCIENCE DEPENDS ON TRUTHFULNESS

Why Is the Normative Power of Truth Rooted in the Mind?

The Person's Transcendence and Fulfillment Depend on the Truthfulness of the Conscience

Normative Power as the Union of Truth and Duty

4. THE OBLIGATION TO SEEK SELF-FULFILLMENT

Duty and the Person's Fulfillment in Actions

The Truthfulness of Moral Norms as Such

The Creative Role of the Conscience

The Transition from Value to Obligation

The Calling to Self-Fulfillment in Action

The Person's Transcendence Evidenced in the Drama of Values and Obligations

5. RESPONSIBILITY

Obligation Relates Responsibility to Efficacy

Responsiveness to and Responsibility for Values

The Subject's Responsibility for His Own Moral Value Is Based on Self-Determination

The Relation of Responsibility to Personal Authority

In His Conscience Man Is Responsible to Himself

6. HAPPINESS AND THE PERSON'S TRANSCENDENCE IN THE ACTION

Self-Fulfillment as a Synonym of Felicity

Truth and Freedom as Sources of Felicity

Felicity Derived from the Relation to Others

The Intrapersonal Profile of Felicity

Felicity and Its Reverse Belong to Personal Structure

Felicity Is Not Pleasure

The Person and the Action Remain within the Sphere of Pleasure and Displeasure

7. THE TRANSCENDENCE OF THE PERSON AND THE SPIRITUALITY OF MAN

The Various Meanings of "Transcendence"

"Transcendence" Expresses the Essence of the Experience of Acting

The Spirituality of Man and the Person's Transcendence in Action

The Real Immanence of the Spiritual Element in Man

The Sequence of Comprehensions

8. THE UNITY AND COMPLEXITY OF THE MAN-PERSON

Phenomenological Intuition and the Unity and Complexity of the Man-Person

The Spiritual Element Underlies the Spiritual Virtuality of Man

Spirituality Determines the Personal Unity of the Corporeal Man

The Experience of Personal Unity Helps to Understand Man's Ontic Complexity

The Experience of the Soul

CHAPTER FIVE - INTEGRATION AND THE SOMA

1. THE FUNDAMENTALS OF THE PERSON'S INTEGRATION IN ACTION

Integration as a Complementary Aspect of Transcendence

Integration as a Complex Unity

2. THE INTEGRATION IN THE ACTION MANIFESTED IN DISINTEGRATION

The Many Meanings of "Disintegration"

Disintegration as a Structural Defect of Self-Governance and Self-Possession

Disintegration Reveals the Significance of the Person's Integration in the Action

3. THE PERSON'S INTEGRATION IN THE ACTION IS THE KEY TO THE UNDERSTANDING OF MAN'S PSYCHOSOMATIC UNITY

Psychosomatic Unity and the Integration of the Acting Person

The Person-Action Unity Has Precedence over the Psychosomatic Complexity

Integration Introduces Psychosomatic Activations into the Dynamic Unity of Action

4. THE INTEGRATION AND THE "INTEGRITY" OF MAN ON THE BASIS OF INTERACTING PSYCHOSOMATIC CONDITIONINGS

The Fundamentals of Man's Psychical and Somatic Dynamisms

The Outerness and Innerness of the Human Body

The Principle of Man's Psychosomatic Integrity

5. THE PERSON AND THE BODY

Reminiscences of Hylomorphism

The Somatic Constitution and the Person

The Human Body as the Person's Means of Expression

The Man-Person Has and Uses His Body when Acting

6. THE SELF-DETERMINATION OF THE PERSON AND THE REACTIVITY OF THE BODY

The Dynamism of the Body and the Total Dynamism of Man

The Reactivity of the Somatic Dynamism

Why Can the Somatic Dynamism Be Called Reactive?

The Relation between Reactivity and Vitality of the Human Body

7. ACTION AND MOTION

The Meaning of the Body's Subjectivity

The Synthesis of Action and Motion

The Moment of Skill in the Action-Motion Synthesis

The Somatic Constitution and Human Mobility

8. INSTINCT AND THE PERSON'S INTEGRATION IN THE ACTION

The Complex Nature of Instinct

The Relation of Instincts to Somatic Reactivity

The Instinct of Self-Preservation

The Instinct of Sex and Reproduction

The Correct Interpretation of Instincts

CHAPTER SIX - PERSONAL INTEGRATION AND THE PSYCHE

I. THE PSYCHE AND THE SOMA

The Fundamentals of the Psychical Component

The Meaning of the Term "Psyche"

Man's Psychical Functioning and His Somatic Constitution

2. A CHARACTERISTIC OF THE PSYCHE - EMOTIVITY

Etymological Interpretation of Emotivity and Emotion

Emotivity and Reactivity

Emotivity and the Conscious Response of Will

3. FEELINGS AND CONSCIOUSNESS IN THE EXPERIENCE OF THE BODY

Emotive Dynamism as a Concentrator of Experiences

The Affective and the Motor Stimulus

Feeling Places Psychical above Somatic Subjectivity

Feeling Underlies the Consciousness of the Body

Self-Feeling

"Precedence" of Consciousness over Feelings in Personal Dynamism

4. SENSITIVITY AND TRUTHFULNESS

The Consciousness of Feelings and Man's Individual Sensitivity

Sensitivity and the Personal Experience of Values

Sensitivity as a Source of Enrichment of the Psyche

5. DESIRE AND EXCITEMENT

Concupiscent Appetite and Irascible Appetite

Excitement as a Distinct Emotive Fact

The Difference between Excitement and Elation

Excitability

Excitability as a Constituent of Instincts

6. "STIRRING EMOTIONS" AND EMOTIVITY

"Stirring Emotions" Differ from Excitement

The "Stir of Emotion" as the Core of Human Affectivity

The Multifarious Richness of Emotions

Some Criteria of Differentiation

7. THE EMOTIVITY OF THE SUBJECT AND THE EFFICACY OF THE PERSON

Emotions Differentiate According to Their Emotive Content

Spontaneity and Self-Determination

Affectivity is not the Source of Disintegration

The Creative Role of Tensions between Emotivity and Efficacy

Emotions Tend to Be Rooted in the Subjective Ego

The Role of Emotion with Respect to the Will Stresses Personal Efficacy

8. THE EMOTIVITY OF THE SUBJECT AND THE EXPERIENCE OF VALUE

Emotivity and Conscious Efficacy

The Expressiveness of Human Experience is Emotional

The Content of Emotions Refers to Values

The Source of the Spontaneous Experience of Value

Relieving of Tensions between Spontaneity and Self-Determination

9. ACTION AND EMOTION - THE INTEGRATING FUNCTION OF SKILL

Attraction and Repulsion in the Spontaneous Reference to Values

Moral Decision and Spontaneous Attraction or Repulsion

The Function of Moral Proficiency or Virtue

10. CONDUCT AND BEHAVIOR

The Meaning of the Terms

Conduct and Behavior in the Person's Integration in Action

11. THE PERSON'S INTEGRATION IN ACTION AND THE SOUL-BODY RELATION

Human Complexity Revealed in Transcendence and Integration

The Relation of Soul and Body to Integration and Transcendence

The Current and Hylomorphic Meaning of the Soul-Body Relation

The Soul as the Principle of Transcendence and Integration

CHAPTER SEVEN - INTERSUBJECTIVITY BY PARTICIPATION

1. INTRODUCTION TO THE CONCEPT OF PARTICIPATION

Man's Acting "Together with Others"

Understanding "Cooperation" Requires an Understanding of Human Acting

The Participatory Aspect in the Person's Acting "Together with Others"

2. THE PERSONALISTIC VALUE OF ACTION

The Performance of the Action Is a Value

The "Personalistic" Value of the Action Conditions Its "Ethical" Value

The Relation of "Communal Action" to the Personalistic Value of Action

3. A MORE DETAILED DEFINITION OF "PARTICIPATION"

The Person in the Philosophy of Man

Participation as a Trait of Acting "Together with Others"

Participation as a Trait of the Person Acting "Together with Others"

Participation Renders Multiform Interpersonal Relations Possible

4. INDIVIDUALISM AND ANTI-INDIVIDUALISM

The Theoretical and Normative Significance of Participation

Individualism and Totalism as the Two Limitations of Participation

Individualism Implies a Denial of Participation

Totalism as Reversed Individualism

The Conception of the Human Being Underlying Both Systems

5. PARTICIPATION AND COMMUNITY

Participation as a Constitutive Factor of the Community

The Community Is Not the Subject in Acting

Associational Relationship and Community Membership

Associational Relationship Differs from Participation

6. PARTICIPATION AND THE COMMON GOOD

The Common Good and the Problem of Community and Participation

Teleological and Personalistic Conceptions of the Common Good

The Common Good as the Foundation of Authentic Human Communities

7. "AUTHENTIC" ATTITUDES

A Pre-ethical Analysis

The Attitude of Solidarity

The Attitude of Opposition

The Sense of Dialogue

8. "NONAUTHENTIC" ATTITUDES

Authentic and Nonauthentic Attitudes

Conformism as a Nonauthentic Attitude

Noninvolvement as a Nonauthentic Attitude

9. FELLOW MEMBER AND NEIGHBOR

Two Interrelated Systems of Reference

The Interrelation of All Men in Humanness

Participation Consists in Sharing the Humanness of Every Man

10. THE COMMANDMENT OF LOVE

The Neighbor as the Fundamental System of Reference

The Commandment of Love Discloses the Roots of Alienation

The Commandment of Love as the Rule of Being and Acting "Together with Others"

  Back to Index