Philosophical Anthropology is arguably the most valued and endless form of study since human beings were created. The literal meaning of the word combines the ‘love (philia) of wisdom (sophia)’ with the ‘study(logia) of man (anthro)’. This branch of study attempts to define and understand what it means to be human. The definition can be stated as the explanatory interpretation of the human being and his essential human action.
Now that we have defined this, let us now raise the points as to why it is so important to study this field. Firstly, although each age of history has its focus in growing fields, such as the technological age we are in now, one cannot debate that the development of the human being has always occupied the minds of men since the beginning of their existence. What is man? What is the meaning of his life?, as well as other philosophical questions have always expressed themselves in men’s thoughts and actions. Krapiec says that Man will never tire of trying to find his identity and where he came from, how he fits in with the world, and where he is going. This sentence perfectly sums up the main advantages to studying Philosophical Anthropology.
No matter how far back in history you go, this has always been on the mind of the great world thinkers. The bible mentions that God breathed the soul into man and it is the soul where man communicates with God. Plato takes an idealistic approach to defining how man should be, instead of Aristotle’s ways of defining how man actually is in reality. Saint Augustine says that wherever true knowledge is gained for a soul or many, it is through Jesus Christ that men were guided to the wisdom. Descartes changes the course of philosophy in the 17th century, and not in the better direction, when he said that the consciousness is what made man alive and gave him existence. This was in contrast to Aristotle and Aquinas’s explanation that it is a man’s spirit/soul that determines his existence. As one can see, this subject has been explored all throughout human history and will continue to occupy man’s mind for as long as he exists, hence its importance to devote time and attention to this field of study.
Another reason to study Philosophical Anthropology is because of what it will make of the student. When one chooses to take the time to explore such questions as who they are and how they act, and where they are going, and what is their purpose, they increase their value as a person through this continual development. Their soul becomes more of a master over their temporal body and they can live life with perhaps more peace and happiness because of their continual growth and development of their soul, which acts through their body. Not only will the individual feel the effects of this development, but it is also the society and community that benefits as well. A society with a hundred Holy people is better and more stable than a society with only five Holy people, all totals being the same.
There are different degrees of what is good, and we all as human beings, desire to do good things. The highest good we can do is to be Holy. Maybe after that it is to be wise. Then after that it is to be a good provider. There are many various levels of goodness and through studying philosophical anthropology, one can increase their soul’s capacity to grow closer towards the Absolute Good (God) and ultimately become happier, while also better preparing themselves for the next chapter of their life : death – when the body passes away and their soul is born into the new space of the afterlife.