Comparing Rationalist and Christian Conceptions of Human Nature
Rationalist Conception of Humanity
The Rationalist View of Human Beings
For Greek thought, what distinguishes the human being is the word (logos) and reason. Only reason allows humanity to properly understand reality. Reason is therefore used to try to answer all the questions posed to humans.
They believed that language serves human beings to share their ideas with others.
As rational beings, humans are unique in the universe because they are not content merely to engage with and live reality as it is; they can transform, imagine, and implement new ways of adapting to their environment and creating models of social life.
Rationalist conceptions of human beings are largely dualistic, conceiving the human being as composed of two realities: body and soul. These are often seen as irreconcilable, with the soul being superior to the body.
For rationalists, passions, feelings, and emotions originate in the body. These must be subordinated to reason and accommodate its demands.
The body is a source of error in knowledge; it can falsify the perception of reality.
Feelings and passions are not rational and cause humans to behave contrary to what reason dictates. It is necessary to master the passions through reason.
Feelings and passions are also a cause of division among human beings. Some rationalist thinkers argue that human desires are a source of conflict and divisive affection.
Rationalist Perspective on Human Sociality
For rationalists, human beings have a natural disposition to live in society. For Aristotle, man is a political animal (*zoon politikon*) who possesses language, enabling community life. No individual is self-sufficient; the individual needs and is naturally inclined to live in society.
The fact of human sociality is based primarily on two arguments:
No individual is self-sufficient to meet their material and spiritual needs.
Humans are the most sociable of animals through communication made possible by language, allowing them to reach agreements that facilitate incorporation into society.
Rationalist View of Human Freedom
Reason enables human beings to know reality and manipulate it within limits. This provides a primary space of freedom, as humanity is not subject to the determinism of other living beings.
Through the use of reason, human beings can organize society to ensure coexistence and protect individual liberty.
Reason enables human beings to judge good and bad. It allows them to set goals in life and become masters of their destiny.
Christian Conception of Humanity
Divine Creation and the Human Being
The human being, created by God, has been endowed with reason, free will, and the capacity to believe.
God’s creation implies that human beings:
Have a limited existence, dependent on an eternal, creator, and omnipotent God.
Created in God’s image, possess a spiritual, incorruptible soul. This spiritual nature constitutes the true value of human beings.
Are unique and irreplaceable.
Their ultimate destination is the resurrection of the whole person after death.
True happiness and the ultimate purpose of existence can only be reached after death, when they live in “a new heaven and new earth where there is no death, or mourning or crying or pain” (*Revelation*). This eternal happiness is attained through obedience to the precepts of faith.
Christian Understanding of Human Freedom
Reason and will form the basis for the Christian conception of freedom. Thanks to these, human beings can be free from internal and external influences or impulses. Through reason and will, humanity can choose how to live life.
To be free is to be responsible for oneself and others, which demands justice, charity, and love for others.
The autonomy of human freedom is partial, as the essence of good and evil is defined by religious faith and belief transmitted by the Church (based on the Bible).
Humans may choose not to follow the teachings of religious faith. Faith is proposed, not imposed.
Christian View of Human Sociality
The Christian faith presents a conception of human sociality based on universal brotherhood. All human beings are children of God and are therefore brothers and sisters.
Love of neighbor, the main commandment of God’s law, is a concrete and visible manifestation of God’s love. Through charity, the Christian believer expresses the sincerity of that love and bears witness to the authenticity of their faith.