Ontological and functionalistic perception of person: bioethical discussion

Pojam i definicija osobe diskutabilni su, odnosno neujednačeni u različitim disciplinama i znanstvenim granama, što posebno dolazi do izražaja u suvremenoj bioetici. Predstavnici i filozofi laičke bioetike, posebice Egelhardt i Singer, poimaju osobu zanemarujući bitnu komponentu osobnosti koju ističu i štite kršćanska teologija i personalistička antropologija, a to je čovjekova duhovna dimenzija. U dominantnoj želji za kontrolom i usavršavanjem čovjeka i svijeta, ti predstavnici laičke bioetičke misli vrijednost i dostojanstvo ljudskom životu pridaju jedino ako je čovjek psiho-fizički zdrav. Govore o “stupnjevitosti” osobnosti kad tvrde da ljudska bića u embrionalnom stadiju života, psihički bolesnici ili ljudi u komi ne mogu biti obdareni osobnošću jer nju uvjetuju isključivo samosvijest i racionalnost. Osobom se postaje rastom tijekom života, i to po određenim činima, i tako stečena osobnost lako se i gubi jer je dovoljno da se čovjek razboli ili da zaspi. Tradicionalno ontološko shvaćanje osobe temelji se na ontološkoj strukturi samoga čovjeka, tako da vrijednost osobe proizlazi iz njezina bitka. Stoga je svaki čovjek individua za sebe. Klasična definicija osobe, preformulirana u moderno doba, kaže da je osoba individua koja posjeduje duhovnu narav. Dio definicije koji kaže da je osoba individua, u biti ustvrđuje da je ona u sebi nepodijeljena, a od svega ostalog odijeljena. Čovjek je različit jer ima svoju vlastitu bit. U mjeri u kojoj je materijalno biće, čovjek se od drugih bića razlikuje kroz odnos forme prema materiji, a u mjeri u kojoj je duhovno biće, razlikuje se na osnovi nekog drugog principa koji se temelji na formi, jer je sasvim jasno da dušu jednog čovjeka ne možemo jednostavno zamijeniti drugom. Kršćanski se personalizam, posebice izražen u enciklici “Evangelium vitae” i dokumentu “Dignitas personae”, temelji na liniji skolastičkoga kršćanskog razmišljanja, i govori o bezuvjetnoj i objektivnoj vrijednosti i dostojanstvu čovjeka, koje proizlaze iz njegove stvorenosti na sliku Božju, te na pozivu čovjeku da postane kao Bog. Čovjek je pozvan u život koji mu je ujedno i darovan s tim ciljem, a on ga ostvaruje kroz slobodu, odgovornost i odnos s drugima. U zajednici čovjek brusi vlastitu osobnost, koja ne ovisi o životnoj dobi, ni o psiho-fizičkim datostima ili sposobnostima, a još manje se gubi ili umanjuje u uterusu ili u snu. U skladu s tim stavovima danas se i rješavaju praktični slučajevi u bioetici. Autor stoga i nudi rješenja prema katoličkom personalističkom nauku i pristupu osobi.The concept and definition of a person are open to doubt, i.e. they are uneven in different disciplines and scientific branches, which is especially pronounced in contemporary bioethics. When perceiving a person, the representatives and philosophers of secular bioethics, especially Egelhardt and Singer, ignore an essential component of personality, promoted and protected by Christian theology and personalistic anthropology, and that is man’s spiritual dimension. In their dominant wish to control and improve man and the world, the mentioned representatives of secular bioethical thought attach value and dignity to human life only in case the person is physically and mentally healthy. They talk about the “levels” of personality if they establish that human beings in embryonic stage of life, mentally ill people or people in a coma cannot be endowed with personality, since it is conditioned only by self-consciousness and rationality. One becomes a person gradually, growing up in the course of life, following certain facts. Such acquired personality can be easily lost, as man can simply fall ill or fall asleep. Traditional ontological perception of a person is based on the ontological structure of man himself, so that the value of a person arises from his/her essence. Therefore, each person is a self-contained person. The classic definition of a person, preformulated in modern times, says that person is an individual who possesses spiritual nature. The part of the definition which says that person is an individual basically says that person is undivided in himself, yet separated from everything else. Man is different because he has his own essence. To the extent that man is a material being, he differs from other beings through the relation of form to matter, and to the extent that man is a spiritual being, he is different on the basis of some other principle which is based on the form, since it is quite clear that man’s soul cannot be simply replaced by another one. Christian personalism, especially prominent in the encyclical Evangelium vitae and the document Dignitas personae, is based on the line of scholastic Christian thinking and speaks about man’s unconditional and objective value and dignity arising from his creatureliness in the image of God and call to man to become like God. Man is called to life which is donated to him for that purpose and he realizes it through freedom, responsibility and relationship with others. In the community man polishes his own personality which does not depend on age or psycho-physical givenness or abilities, let alone that it disappears or diminishes in the uterus or in the sleep. Nowadays practical cases in bioethics are solved in accordance with these views. Therefore, the author offers solutions according to the Catholic personalistic teaching and approach to the person