Abstract

The thesis of this essay is that Karol Wojtyła / Pope John Paul II develops a rich understanding of the concept of person and of human personhood not by redefining “person” but by availing himself of the traditional definition offered by Boëthius who viewed the person as an individual substance of a rational nature. Objections to this definition are overcome by Wojtyla’s deep understanding of the spiritual characteristics of reason and will. The person acquires from these faculties one’s distinctive characteristics of freedom and creativity, which are manifest and fulfilled in one’s capacity for love. Thus it is that although the person exists as a material substance in the world of physical things, one’s personal existence is constituted by relationships with other persons.