1.1.-Let’s Work .
1.The complexity of the
human being
2.The importance of taking
into account the different dimensions of human life in order to avoid partial
approaches
3.That we are the result of
the relationship between genetic and cultural inheritance
4.That we are defined by
our origins, but also by our experiences (what we do, what we decide)
5.That our life is the
result of our abilities, our vocation and our circumstances
6.That we have to organize
our desires and aspirations to be able to write our biography
7.The importance of
autonomy in our life, as well as counting on others
8.The richness of human
feelings as expressed in the cinema or in literature (reflections of life
itself)
Introduction.
The reality of
human life is peculiar. It is not just another thing in the world and universe.
A range of information and different
perspectives are necessary in order to understand, explain, analyse and take it
into consideration. What are we? What is the human being? We could look in a
science book for a scientific explanation, or in a catechism or religious book
to find out the religious angle, or an anthropology book to understand the
special socio-cultural characteristics. We could even resort to literature and
cinema to see ourselves as beings full of feelings and passion. While the
answer may be very simple, once we stop and think about it we realise how
complicated an issue it actually is.
The same question we ask about the human
being in the general sense - "What are we?" -, can also be asked by
each of us from an individual point of view - "What are we?"
"What am I?" "Who am I?" If someone asks us, "Who are
you?", we quickly give our name, as if that explained everything. But a
name is not always enough. I am my name, but maybe it does not define me. I
might have to say something more, talk about my sisters and brothers, my
parents, my city, my friends; or I could also describe myself: tall or short,
the colour of my hair, my constitution, etc. Or maybe I have to talk about my
achievements: what I've done, what I've achieved; or maybe, even, what I expect
to do: go to university, have a family, go on an important journey, etc… All
these things define us, and, in a sense, none of these things are enough by
themselves.
This is just one of the reasons why it
is said that personal life, each life - not only human life as a biological
species -, requires many outlooks. It requires us to recognise and appreciate
the integral dimension of human life. Several points of view and perspectives
are needed to contemplate human life, each person's life. The same happens when
we are looking at a landscape or any other object, we only see part of it, and
we need to move around it to see other perspectives, other angles. We are not
just biology, we are not just biography, we are not just feelings, we are not
just intelligence, and we are not just citizens: we are all that, and more.
The study of human beings as citizens,
which is the objective of this book, should not be done in an isolated manner,
detached from all the other factors that are part of us. Human life cannot be
split into segments of perspectives. The segment of an orange is not an orange,
it is only part of it; it is an orange when it has all its segments. The same
happens with personal life; it cannot be broken into several pieces where just
one part, one dimension is studied.
Hence
the term “integral dimension”.
is studied.
Hence
the term “integral dimension”.
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These are the terms of the
debate. Present-day science usually
gives a complex view. We are culture, but not just culture. We are also
biology, but not just biology. We are bio-cultural beings.
REMEMBER:
This debate, from either point of view, tends to clear the individual of any
responsibility, because those saying that we are the result of genetics defend
that there is nothing we can do, and so do those stating that we are the result
of education. Both arguments conceal what we are: complex beings, the result of
biology and culture, but also people who decide and act, people who change
their own and others' lives.
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2. We Are Many
Things: A Plural Identity
As we have seen,
there are many terms that define human life, many dimensions, and when we
threaten it, when we threaten a person's dignity, we reduce it to just one
dimension and deny diversity.
If the human being is plural and
diverse, the way in which we approach him or her should also be different. Many
times, we try to explain it from only one point of view, like when we try to
define an object by just observing one of its sides.
Bearing in mind all of the previous
ideas, and in order to simplify this difficult matter a little, we could say
that there are four main dimensions to the human being and, consequently, four
perspectives, four different ways of explaining what he is, what we are.
The human being can be seen
from four perspectives: “from above”, “from inside”, “from outside” and “from
below”.
1)
“From above”: the spiritual, religious or transcendental part of the person;
according to this perspective, the human being is willing to transcend;
2)
“From outside”: the socio-cultural dimension or "citizenship"; the
human being is defined as a social being by his relationships and sense of
belonging; |
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3)
“From inside”: this perspective concentrates on the deepest part of the person,
the personality itself, and tries to ignore the external part: the human being
is a psychological, emotional and internal being.
4)
“From below”: the physical or biological perspectives (genes); the human being
is an element of nature, a biological species, another living creature.
These
four dimensions are correct but separate. In a complicated way, we are all of
them. Nowadays, many of the ideas on this matter reduce human richness to one
unique dimension; this is a mistake. |
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3. Creating our Biography
Biology
and Biography
Human beings not only have a fundamental
biology, but also a biography. We could say that biology is what we have, while
biography is what we do with the resources we have, from biological to cultural
factors. Human life, each life, is not made; each person has to build his life,
hence the importance of thinking about these matters. Being a citizen means
being a person, but we cannot be a person without an identity. Strangely
enough, one needs the other, in other words, we also need other people to
achieve a personal identity. This is why this matter is so important and
transcendental.
To “write” our biography we need three
major elements:
- what we are, our qualities, our
aptitudes and abilities
- what we aim to be, our life project,
our vocation
- our circumstances
We all have some resources and
possibilities, and this is why we - helped by education - have to discover our
abilities; they might be related to sport, they might be artistic abilities, or
a capacity for scientific investigation, among others. Thus, it is important to
know ourselves and value what we have. But it is also important to know what we
want to be, in other words how we are going to use our abilities: to know our
vocation, what attracts my attention, what my calling is. It is also important
to be aware of one’s physical and social circumstances.
If
some of these factors fail, feelings of frustration and unhappiness arise. |
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Like
a Novel
Human life, our biography, could be
compared to a novel. Novels have a plot and suspense, just like our own lives.
We create the plot from our experiences and from the characters we come across.
Our life makes sense when we tell it, when we narrate our experiences. We like
telling people about our life and listening to others talk about theirs. We
like stories, tales, adventure films; we like to identify ourselves with their
characters and heroes. We also have to create a character in our life, so we
must think a lot and choose the character we want to play, the story we want to
tell about ourselves. Therefore, we must pay attention to our life, our wishes,
our motivations, and to others.
4.
Motivation, Autonomy and Health
Being
Autonomous
Writing our biography is a way of being
autonomous. An autonomous person is someone who decides for himself, who makes
his own rules. Meanwhile a heteronomous person is someone who lives through
others and not through himself. Of course, being autonomous does not mean
living without counting on others; an autonomous person counts on others,
listens, takes advice and knowledge from others. Autonomy is not the same as
independence; it's about making your own decisions, but not in opposition to
others.
To
be an autonomous person we need to organise our wishes, our motivations or, as
was said before, our vocation. What do we want in life? What do we value? What
do we want to achieve?
Human
Motivation
The psychologist A. Maslow designed a
pyramid of human motivation that became famous. This pyramid organises human
wishes, from the most basic to the most important. It is also an organization
of human needs. Let’s look at this pyramid. |
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Biography
and Health
Building our
life means taking care of all that we are. This involves looking after our biography (the importance of
reflection, criticism, etc…), but also our biology. As human beings, we need to
help each other and comply with some rules. This does not mean an end
to our freedom, rather it is the path to total freedom, to be able to develop
our biography and climb the steps of the pyramid. We can help others by taking care of ourselves,
because, in a very basic way, this is part of mixing with other people. This can be
reflected in terms of personal hygiene or respect for others; when a colleague
is speaking, for instance, we wait our turn to speak. Good personal hygiene is also essential when mixing
with others.
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1.4.-This Issue in the Press:
What is the Human Being?
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that try to define the human being. One
of them gives a more scientific view, while the other is more philosophical.
Read them carefully and answer the questions. Pay attention to all of the
different approaches.
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1.5.-Let’s go to the Cinema: Family Man
Many films deal with the
drama of human life, showing its grief and love, harshness and difficulties.
Cinema is like a mirror into which we
can look at ourselves and from which we can learn. “Family Man” is a film that
could help us to reflect on our life, in its integrity and different
dimensions. Let’s see why. |
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THINK
- Could you imagine yourself living a different
life?
- In you opinion, what are the values that
should run our lives? Do you think people
take these values into account? And you?
- Complete the following hypothesis:
a) If I decided to study medicine in my city my life would be...
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b) If my parents won the lottery and they had a lot of money my life
would be ….
- In your opinion, what
are the most important moments in a person's life?
- Do we build our life by
taking big or small decisions?
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1.6.-Looking Through Images: Human Reflections. Caravaggio
and Dalí
Art has long been able to
represent the human being's search for identity, his complexity and beauty.
These two pictures by Caravaggio and
Dalí - different in style and composition - show problems, situations and
experiences that we could all come across.
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1.7.-The World of Literature: Quevedo and Lope de Vega
Literature is actually an art that expresses human experience
in an incomparable way. Literature is, without a doubt, a world full of feelings, reasons and emotions within which
we human beings can recognise ourselves. You will read two sonnets, two poems
dealing with two essential human experiences: solitude and meeting. |
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FEELING AND THINKING WITH
WORDS
1. Read these
sonnets carefully. Look up the words
you do not understand in the dictionary. What do these expressions mean?
- “final shadow” - “will soon be ash, but ash that is aware”
- “To avert your face from bitter
disappointment”
- “To believe heaven is encountered in
hell”
2. Which human experiences
are the poets talking about? Do you
agree with their descriptions? What would you tell them? Have a go at adding
more adjectives to the experience described by Lope de Vega!.
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3.
Get some more information about Lope de Vega and Quevedo. Where did they live?
When? Mention some other outstanding writers from the same period and place.
4. Search for a poem or a
brief description that deals with human experiences |
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1.8.-Final and Summary Activities
1. Read this tale
carefully. What is it trying to tell us? Do you think that human life can be
limited to this? Why? Establish an
imaginative relation with G. Klimt painting. What does it mean? What does it
mean to you? |
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“A young king of ancient Persia ascended the throne
full of great wishes. Willing to learn, he summoned the wise men of the Court
and asked them to write a summary of the history of humanity. This took them
thirty years. Once they had finished it, they loaded their five hundred volumes
onto twelve camels and went to the palace. But the king, who was already in his
fifties, said: “I won’t live for long, I will die before having read it. Write
a shorter version”. The wise men started to work again. Ten years later, they
brought the summary to the palace. This time they only needed three camels to
carry the volumes. But the king, who was already in his sixties, did not feel
like reading so many pages and asked them to write a shorter version. This new
version took them ten years, and they needed just one camel to carry it.
However, during this time, the king’s
sight had been getting worse, so he needed something even shorter. After five
years of work, the wise men reduced the work to one volume. However, by then
the king was ill in bed. He told them sadly “Am I going to end my life without
having learned the history of humanity?” The eldest wise man leaned towards the
headboard and whispered “Majesty, the history of humanity could be summarised
in three words: Humans are born, suffer and die”. Then the king nodded and
died. PERSIAN TALE.
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2.
Motivation survey. Quickly look at the Maslow pyramid. We suggest you do some
research on the concept of happiness that the people you know have and decide
where on the pyramid they are. It's simple; you just have to ask them what
happiness is for them. They should explain their definition to you, and then
you have to position them on one of the steps of the pyramid. You can do it
this way:
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1.9.-Find Out and Take Part
AT
SCHOOL
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At school, our identity depends on our class, colleagues and teachers. To think
about our personal identity is also to think about the identity of the school.
Your school also has an identity. What makes up this identity?
Do
some research on its history
Ask
about the number of teachers, pupils and classes
Review
the rules on co-existence
Find
out the school’s long-term project, its style, teaching methods
Ask
about the school associations, what they are devoted to
Find out the ways pupils
are involved (pupil representatives, school board, representatives, etc…)
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