b.3. Efficacy and Self-Determination
Having discussed the function of consciousness in every activity of man, the point of discussion now will be the relation between the action and the personal subjectivity of the person. In the previous chapter, specifically on the presentation of Scheler’s notion of person, Wojtyła is much influenced by Scheler’s thought. However, he is critical when it comes to absolutizing of consciousness and emotion that would obstruct one’s understanding of person. Here, Wojtyła observed that this account misses the moment of efficacy or agency of the acting person. The moment of efficacy is an act wherein a person experiences his own action, is the efficient cause and the one responsible for it. In Wojtyła’s own words …show more content…
By the reason that, in order to determine oneself self-possession and self-governance are necessarily involve with it. It is a prerequisite to have a clear grasp of the whole idea of his philosophy. Wojtyła describes that the action as it manifests makes a concrete relation and constituted by the will. He says: Every action confirms and at the same time makes more concrete the relation, in which the will manifests itself as a feature of the person and the person manifests himself as a reality with regard to his dynamism that is properly constituted by the will. This is called as “self-determination.” He further added in relation to self-possession: Self-determination is possible only on the ground of self-possession. Every authentically human “I will” is an act of self-determination; it is so not in abstraction and isolation from the dynamic personal structure but, on the contrary, as deep-rooted content of this structural …show more content…
Action has been indeed the road which led us to an understanding of the person and has simultaneously allowed us to grasp its own nature; for action not only carries the means, and as a special basis, of the intuition of the person, but it also discloses its own self with every step that brings us nearer the person. In the light of this, it is understandable that every action has its value. Wojtyła explains: The “personalistic” value of the human action- that is, the personal value- is a special and probably the most fundamental manifestation of the worth of the person himself. The person manifests through his action. However, the personal character of an action lies upon the person himself which in itself a fundamental value. He adds: The “personalistic” value of an action, strictly related to the performing of the action by the person, is therefore a special source, and the basis of knowledge about the value of the person (as well as about the values inherent in the person, according to their appropriate hierarchy. Thus, it must be realized that operari sequitur esse (Action follows being). In order to act, something must first exist. The esse is primarily the constitutive component of every being and being is prior to action. Therefore, the value of the person is prior to that of the action even if it is in action
Having discussed the function of consciousness in every activity of man, the point of discussion now will be the relation between the action and the personal subjectivity of the person. In the previous chapter, specifically on the presentation of Scheler’s notion of person, Wojtyła is much influenced by Scheler’s thought. However, he is critical when it comes to absolutizing of consciousness and emotion that would obstruct one’s understanding of person. Here, Wojtyła observed that this account misses the moment of efficacy or agency of the acting person. The moment of efficacy is an act wherein a person experiences his own action, is the efficient cause and the one responsible for it. In Wojtyła’s own words …show more content…
By the reason that, in order to determine oneself self-possession and self-governance are necessarily involve with it. It is a prerequisite to have a clear grasp of the whole idea of his philosophy. Wojtyła describes that the action as it manifests makes a concrete relation and constituted by the will. He says: Every action confirms and at the same time makes more concrete the relation, in which the will manifests itself as a feature of the person and the person manifests himself as a reality with regard to his dynamism that is properly constituted by the will. This is called as “self-determination.” He further added in relation to self-possession: Self-determination is possible only on the ground of self-possession. Every authentically human “I will” is an act of self-determination; it is so not in abstraction and isolation from the dynamic personal structure but, on the contrary, as deep-rooted content of this structural …show more content…
Action has been indeed the road which led us to an understanding of the person and has simultaneously allowed us to grasp its own nature; for action not only carries the means, and as a special basis, of the intuition of the person, but it also discloses its own self with every step that brings us nearer the person. In the light of this, it is understandable that every action has its value. Wojtyła explains: The “personalistic” value of the human action- that is, the personal value- is a special and probably the most fundamental manifestation of the worth of the person himself. The person manifests through his action. However, the personal character of an action lies upon the person himself which in itself a fundamental value. He adds: The “personalistic” value of an action, strictly related to the performing of the action by the person, is therefore a special source, and the basis of knowledge about the value of the person (as well as about the values inherent in the person, according to their appropriate hierarchy. Thus, it must be realized that operari sequitur esse (Action follows being). In order to act, something must first exist. The esse is primarily the constitutive component of every being and being is prior to action. Therefore, the value of the person is prior to that of the action even if it is in action