Defining Personhood and Cultural Frameworks

The Human Being as a Person

Defining Personhood: Roman Law and Christianity

Roman law and Christianity significantly advanced the concept of the person. In ancient Rome, people were recognized as subjects of rights and duties. Individuals could operate freely and were responsible for their own actions. A person does not need anyone to dictate their actions; they are the source of duty and morality.

In Christianity, it is believed that every human being is a creature with a soul, capable of receiving rewards or punishments according to their performance. This underscores the value of the person as an autonomous entity with its own identity, especially with a permanence and continuity that does not end in this life. A person is an end in itself.

Characteristics of a Person

To treat a human being as a person means they are endowed with awareness and are an end in themselves. A person can account for their actions, i.e., they are responsible. A person is a subject of rights and duties. Human rights are deeply rooted in the concept of personhood.

Cultural Concepts and Perspectives

Enculturation: Learning Culture

Enculturation is the process of learning one's own culture.

Acculturation: Crossing Cultural Boundaries

Acculturation is the process that occurs when cultures interact. It involves the assimilation of other customs, rites, and beliefs.

Emic Perspective: The Insider's View

The emic view is that adopted by the participants themselves. The emic position remains within a culture, a product of the enculturation process, leading individuals to appreciate their own practices and beliefs as correct or legitimate.

Etic Perspective: The External Observer's View

The etic perspective is taken by an external observer. The etic position is a viewpoint maintained from outside a culture, always from another cultural perspective, but intended to preserve objectivity.

Subjective Culture: Education and Knowledge

When the term 'culture' refers to a subject, it relates to education. Cicero was the first to offer this interpretation. A cultured person is someone who is educated, meaning they have acquired certain knowledge and skills. Subjective culture is the sum of knowledge acquired by an individual in the learning process within a social context.

Objective Culture: Human Achievements

Subjective culture occurs within the context of objective culture. Subjective culture represents how culture is internalized by an individual. Herder, in the eighteenth century, defined the concept of culture as the permanent objective achievements of human beings: art, science, customs, language, and more. Culture, in the objective sense, encompasses all production carried out by human beings in a social context, shaping their most immediate reality.