A alma intelectiva e o conceito de pessoa na antropologia filosófica de Santo Tomás de Aquino e suas implicações morais.

Abstract

This thesis talks about the concepts of soul and person in the Aquinas’ perspective, as well the moral implications that it contains. We introduce the philosophical anthropology of St. Thomas Aquinas, highlighting the Aquinas’ treatise on the soul, from the idea that the soul is the body's entelecheia and, with that, we define person in the perspective of the Angelic Doctor. In the conception of St. Thomas Aquinas, man has an intellectual soul and, therefore, is endowed with intelligence and will. These characteristics are fundamental for understanding man as an individual and as the master of himself and of his decisions through free will. From these concepts, we explain the Thomasian concept of person. Certainly, because he is a being of rational nature, the man is a person. His dignity is based on his nature, that is, on his being. This research focuses on The Summa Theologica and The Summa Contra Gentiles, as well some recent scholars, like Étiènne Gilson, Frederick Copleston, Battista Mondin and Henrique de Lima Vaz. We read qualitative their texts qualitatively without the pretension of exhausting the subject, but to encourage discussion about it. From this, we testify that the dignity of human person is guaranteed by the simple fact that man is what he is: endowed with rational nature and will, free and unique. His dignity is not supported by his possessions or his purchasing power.