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Analecta Husserliana
The Acting Person: A Contribution to Phenomenological Anthropology
Book by Karol Wojtyla
396 pages, Hardcover
First published February 28, 1979
16 people are currently reading
298 people want to read
About the author
Pope John Paul II
1,046 books630 followersSaint Pope John Paul II (Latin: Ioannes Paulus II), born Karol Józef Wojtyła was elected Pope at the Conclave of 16 October 1978, and he took the name of John Paul II. On 22 October, the Lord's Day, he solemnly inaugurated his Petrine ministry as the 263rd successor to the Apostle. His pontificate, one of the longest in the history of the Church, lasted nearly 27 years.
Driven by his pastoral solicitude for all Churches and by a sense of openness and charity to the entire human race, John Paul II exercised the Petrine ministry with a tireless missionary spirit, dedicating it all his energy. He made 104 pastoral visits outside Italy and 146 within Italy. As bishop of Rome he visited 317 of the city's 333 parishes.
He had more meetings than any of his predecessors with the People of God and the leaders of Nations. More than 17,600,000 pilgrims participated in the General Audiences held on Wednesdays (more than 1160), not counting other special audiences and religious ceremonies [more than 8 million pilgrims during the Great Jubilee of the Year 2000 alone], and the millions of faithful he met during pastoral visits in Italy and throughout the world. We must also remember the numerous government personalities he encountered during 38 official visits, 738 audiences and meetings held with Heads of State, and 246 audiences and meetings with Prime Ministers.
His love for young people brought him to establish the World Youth Days. The 19 WYDs celebrated during his pontificate brought together millions of young people from all over the world. At the same time his care for the family was expressed in the World Meetings of Families, which he initiated in 1994. John Paul II successfully encouraged dialogue with the Jews and with the representatives of other religions, whom he several times invited to prayer meetings for peace, especially in Assisi.
Under his guidance the Church prepared herself for the third millennium and celebrated the Great Jubilee of the year 2000 in accordance with the instructions given in the Apostolic Letter Tertio Millennio adveniente. The Church then faced the new epoch, receiving his instructions in the Apostolic Letter Novo Millennio ineunte, in which he indicated to the faithful their future path.
With the Year of the Redemption, the Marian Year and the Year of the Eucharist, he promoted the spiritual renewal of the Church. He gave an extraordinary impetus to Canonizations and Beatifications, focusing on countless examples of holiness as an incentive for the people of our time. He celebrated 147 beatification ceremonies during which he proclaimed 1,338 Blesseds; and 51 canonizations for a total of 482 saints. He made Thérèse of the Child Jesus a Doctor of the Church.
He considerably expanded the College of Cardinals, creating 231 Cardinals (plus one in pectore) in 9 consistories. He also called six full meetings of the College of Cardinals. His most important Documents include 14 Encyclicals, 15 Apostolic Exhortations, 11 Apostolic Constitutions, 45 Apostolic Letters. He promulgated the Catechism of the Catholic Church in the light of Tradition as authoritatively interpreted by the Second Vatican Council. He also reformed the Eastern and Western Codes of Canon Law, created new Institutions and reorganized the Roman Curia.
In the light of Christ risen from the dead, on 2 April 2005 at 9.37 p.m., while Saturday was drawing to a close and the Lord's Day was already beginning, the Octave of Easter and Divine Mercy Sunday, the Church's beloved Pastor, John Paul II, departed this world for the Father. On April 1, 2011, he was raised to the glory of the altars and on April 27, 2014 canonized.
Driven by his pastoral solicitude for all Churches and by a sense of openness and charity to the entire human race, John Paul II exercised the Petrine ministry with a tireless missionary spirit, dedicating it all his energy. He made 104 pastoral visits outside Italy and 146 within Italy. As bishop of Rome he visited 317 of the city's 333 parishes.
He had more meetings than any of his predecessors with the People of God and the leaders of Nations. More than 17,600,000 pilgrims participated in the General Audiences held on Wednesdays (more than 1160), not counting other special audiences and religious ceremonies [more than 8 million pilgrims during the Great Jubilee of the Year 2000 alone], and the millions of faithful he met during pastoral visits in Italy and throughout the world. We must also remember the numerous government personalities he encountered during 38 official visits, 738 audiences and meetings held with Heads of State, and 246 audiences and meetings with Prime Ministers.
His love for young people brought him to establish the World Youth Days. The 19 WYDs celebrated during his pontificate brought together millions of young people from all over the world. At the same time his care for the family was expressed in the World Meetings of Families, which he initiated in 1994. John Paul II successfully encouraged dialogue with the Jews and with the representatives of other religions, whom he several times invited to prayer meetings for peace, especially in Assisi.
Under his guidance the Church prepared herself for the third millennium and celebrated the Great Jubilee of the year 2000 in accordance with the instructions given in the Apostolic Letter Tertio Millennio adveniente. The Church then faced the new epoch, receiving his instructions in the Apostolic Letter Novo Millennio ineunte, in which he indicated to the faithful their future path.
With the Year of the Redemption, the Marian Year and the Year of the Eucharist, he promoted the spiritual renewal of the Church. He gave an extraordinary impetus to Canonizations and Beatifications, focusing on countless examples of holiness as an incentive for the people of our time. He celebrated 147 beatification ceremonies during which he proclaimed 1,338 Blesseds; and 51 canonizations for a total of 482 saints. He made Thérèse of the Child Jesus a Doctor of the Church.
He considerably expanded the College of Cardinals, creating 231 Cardinals (plus one in pectore) in 9 consistories. He also called six full meetings of the College of Cardinals. His most important Documents include 14 Encyclicals, 15 Apostolic Exhortations, 11 Apostolic Constitutions, 45 Apostolic Letters. He promulgated the Catechism of the Catholic Church in the light of Tradition as authoritatively interpreted by the Second Vatican Council. He also reformed the Eastern and Western Codes of Canon Law, created new Institutions and reorganized the Roman Curia.
In the light of Christ risen from the dead, on 2 April 2005 at 9.37 p.m., while Saturday was drawing to a close and the Lord's Day was already beginning, the Octave of Easter and Divine Mercy Sunday, the Church's beloved Pastor, John Paul II, departed this world for the Father. On April 1, 2011, he was raised to the glory of the altars and on April 27, 2014 canonized.
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
August 11, 2012
This is a profound study of the human person as revealed through his act. The English translation fails to capture Wojtyla's thesis. "Acting person" implies acting consciously, which is not the approach that Wojtyla takes. Rather, he approaches the person by first studying an act, analyzing it, discerning its human element, and then finding the person who lies behind the act. Only then can such an act be called a truly human act, or a conscious act. Wojtyla's approach is a penetration into and beyond the acts to the reality of the person behind them. This is an approach used by modern philosophers, and Wojtyla focuses on two: Immanuel Kant and the phenomenologist Max Scheler. Taking what is valid and true from these two philosophers, Wojtyla goes on to show how traditional philosophers (Plato, Aristotle, St. Augustine, St. Thomas, for example) are compatible and are actually necessary for modern thought. In fact, the experienced realities that Wojtyla describes through his modern approach are shown to be completely compatible with St. Thomas Aquinas' metaphysical theories. At the end of the study, one will in fact question how modern thought can even continue to progress without the great treasures Western Civilization has handed down, primarily St. Thomas Aquinas' most fundamental explanations of "being" and "essence." One word of caution: the English translation fails to capture the technical terms that Wojtyla meticulously tailored to be able to express the metaphysical and phenomenological terms he is dealing with here.
January 23, 2016
I wanted to read this after noticing it was cited many times in his book Love an Responsibility, which I loved. This book is amazing, but also a bit over my head. I would love to run into someone one day who could read and fully comprehend it in the original Polish and also explain / discuss it in English. I would love to hear from others who have also read it and are interested in further understanding its contents.
November 7, 2007
This is very hard going - yet it underpins the future Pope's whole thinking on responsibility and the "wholeness" of the human individual and how that individual has dominion over their own actions and the interplay of those actions with others.
A cornerstone on the author's text on human sexuality "Love and Responsibility".
A cornerstone on the author's text on human sexuality "Love and Responsibility".
January 15, 2020
Intriguing, thought-provoking -- and illuminating into how John Paul II formulated his understanding of man. Of note, this is not inherently a theological volume. There is more reference to and use of Freudian principles than there is of anything Biblical, and the primary Biblical content is limited to a handful of references to the Ten Commandments and to the "Great Commandment" that Jesus gave: "Love thy neighbor as thyself." But the explanation and analysis that Wojtyla gives to this is not primarily theologically grounded but grounded in psychological terms. Nevertheless, a fascinating study even in that way.
December 17, 2019
Wow. This is an amazing work! I was trying to get a copy of this book at a reasonable price for about a year, when I finally read “Love and Responsibility” by the same author. Most of the notes in that work referenced this work.
“Love and Responsibility” challenged me, showed me myself, pointed out my flaws and defects. This put a fire under me arse to acquire a copy of “The Acting Person”. And after some negotiations with various book venders, I was able to procure it at a decent price. £33 ($50).
Well, this high school dropout was in brain candy heaven (though I saw a review calling the book Purgatory for seminarians). It was a terribly difficult read, and has worked as a strong motivation to become much more philosophically literate for me. In a year or so I shall re-read this book. This man’s writing is beyond description. A holy genius.
**en español bajo el inglés**
A book I finished a couple weeks ago and a book I started about a month and a half ago, “The Long Loneliness” by Dorothy Day and “The Culture of Narcissism” by Christopher Lasch respectively, really helped me to start examining my conscience in a much better way.
Now, my realization for the need to overhaul my self examination began cerca 2006 when Fr. Duffner, OP told me I had a dead conscience during confession. It was haunting to me for over a decade, but I could not see what he meant, try as I may.
Well, some 12 years later (Just over a year ago... I finished it last December)I read “Love and Responsibility” by St. John Paul II which helped me to see I was lacking the ability to reach a real and pure love. That book lead me to “The Acting Person” (most difficult book I ever read) and “Man in the Field of Responsibility” both also by the same St John Paul II. Those three books break down in minute detail acts of the will, and the person’s culpability of those acts, which occur in the soul, at the moment.
The latter two I read this year. I need to study those three books in greater detail. Those books lead me to the understanding that I am truly responsible for my actions, both outward and inward, both mental and physical.
Moving on from those tomes of nearly unutterable wisdom, I began reading the books by Day and Lasch. Those books became the cup that allowed me to draw from the oasis that had sprung forth in my heart through the study of St. John Paul II’s philosophy.
The pool of that oasis is a mirror, laying bare to me so many faults, defects, sins that are stitched into the fabric of my day. So many acts of the will that have become completely “normal” to the point of convincing myself that my sin, unrecognizable to me as sin for so many years, was simply a part of my personality.
Sin is not personality. Many people, nay, nearly our entire society, has embraced this notion that our sin is simply a part of our personality and uniqueness, and we try to force this upon the rest of the world... our family, our friends, our coworkers, service employees...
Mea culpa, mea culpa, mea maxima culpa.
Read my dear friends. Read my family and relatives. Read my enemies. Read and study good literature. It may be the salvation of your eternal soul.
Un libro que terminé hace dos semanas y un otro que empiezo hace un mes y medio, The Long Loneliness” de Dorothy Day y “The Culture of Narcissism” de Christopher Lasch
respectivamente, ayuda me en serio a examinar mi consciencia en una manera mucho mejor.
Mi realización por la necesidad a corregir mi autoexamen empezó cerca 2006 cuando Padre Duffner, OP me diga que se muere mi consciencia durante mi confesión. Sus palabras me embruje por mas que una década. Despues micho tiempo, no he podido entender por que me dice esto.
Pasa doce años y leído “Amor y Responsabilidad” de San Juan Pablo Segundo, y guiame a entender que todavía no tengo capacidad por amor puro y completo. Y guiame a los libros “La Persona y Acto” y “El Hombre en el Campo de Responsabilidad’ también los dos de San Juan Pablo Segundo. Estos tres libros explicar con la simplicidad actos de la voluntad, y la culpabilidad de las personas en estos actos de voluntad que pasa en la alma, inmediatamente.
Los ultimos dos he leído este año. Necesito estudiar estos tres con más exactitud en el futuro. Estos libros guiame a entender que estoy responsible y culpable sobre mis actos de voluntad adentro y afuero, actas físicas y actos mentales.
Pasando de estos tomos de sabidurías casi indescriptibles, comencé a leer los libros de Day y Lasch. Estos libros convertíos a la taza por beber del oasis que creció en mi corozon gracias al estudio de la filosofía de San Juan Pablo Segundo.
El estanque del oasis era un espejo, que me esta poniendo al descubierto tantas faltas, defectos y pecados que estan cosidas en la tela de mi día. Tantas actas de voluntad que convertíos a completamente normal al punto a convencerme que mis pecadores, irreconocible a me por tantas años, simplemente fue parte de mi personalidad.
Pecados no son personalidad. Mucha gente, no, casi todo nuestra sociedad, he abrasado este noción, que nuestros pecados simplemente son piezas de nuestras personalidades y singularidades. Y tratamos forzarlos a todo el mundo ... nuestras familias, amigos, compañeros de trabajo, enemigos, personas de servicios ...
Mea culpa, mea culpa, mea maxima culpa.
Leen mi familia, mis amigos. Leer y estudiar literatura buena. Puede ser su salvación de la alma eterna.
“Love and Responsibility” challenged me, showed me myself, pointed out my flaws and defects. This put a fire under me arse to acquire a copy of “The Acting Person”. And after some negotiations with various book venders, I was able to procure it at a decent price. £33 ($50).
Well, this high school dropout was in brain candy heaven (though I saw a review calling the book Purgatory for seminarians). It was a terribly difficult read, and has worked as a strong motivation to become much more philosophically literate for me. In a year or so I shall re-read this book. This man’s writing is beyond description. A holy genius.
**en español bajo el inglés**
A book I finished a couple weeks ago and a book I started about a month and a half ago, “The Long Loneliness” by Dorothy Day and “The Culture of Narcissism” by Christopher Lasch respectively, really helped me to start examining my conscience in a much better way.
Now, my realization for the need to overhaul my self examination began cerca 2006 when Fr. Duffner, OP told me I had a dead conscience during confession. It was haunting to me for over a decade, but I could not see what he meant, try as I may.
Well, some 12 years later (Just over a year ago... I finished it last December)I read “Love and Responsibility” by St. John Paul II which helped me to see I was lacking the ability to reach a real and pure love. That book lead me to “The Acting Person” (most difficult book I ever read) and “Man in the Field of Responsibility” both also by the same St John Paul II. Those three books break down in minute detail acts of the will, and the person’s culpability of those acts, which occur in the soul, at the moment.
The latter two I read this year. I need to study those three books in greater detail. Those books lead me to the understanding that I am truly responsible for my actions, both outward and inward, both mental and physical.
Moving on from those tomes of nearly unutterable wisdom, I began reading the books by Day and Lasch. Those books became the cup that allowed me to draw from the oasis that had sprung forth in my heart through the study of St. John Paul II’s philosophy.
The pool of that oasis is a mirror, laying bare to me so many faults, defects, sins that are stitched into the fabric of my day. So many acts of the will that have become completely “normal” to the point of convincing myself that my sin, unrecognizable to me as sin for so many years, was simply a part of my personality.
Sin is not personality. Many people, nay, nearly our entire society, has embraced this notion that our sin is simply a part of our personality and uniqueness, and we try to force this upon the rest of the world... our family, our friends, our coworkers, service employees...
Mea culpa, mea culpa, mea maxima culpa.
Read my dear friends. Read my family and relatives. Read my enemies. Read and study good literature. It may be the salvation of your eternal soul.
Un libro que terminé hace dos semanas y un otro que empiezo hace un mes y medio, The Long Loneliness” de Dorothy Day y “The Culture of Narcissism” de Christopher Lasch
respectivamente, ayuda me en serio a examinar mi consciencia en una manera mucho mejor.
Mi realización por la necesidad a corregir mi autoexamen empezó cerca 2006 cuando Padre Duffner, OP me diga que se muere mi consciencia durante mi confesión. Sus palabras me embruje por mas que una década. Despues micho tiempo, no he podido entender por que me dice esto.
Pasa doce años y leído “Amor y Responsabilidad” de San Juan Pablo Segundo, y guiame a entender que todavía no tengo capacidad por amor puro y completo. Y guiame a los libros “La Persona y Acto” y “El Hombre en el Campo de Responsabilidad’ también los dos de San Juan Pablo Segundo. Estos tres libros explicar con la simplicidad actos de la voluntad, y la culpabilidad de las personas en estos actos de voluntad que pasa en la alma, inmediatamente.
Los ultimos dos he leído este año. Necesito estudiar estos tres con más exactitud en el futuro. Estos libros guiame a entender que estoy responsible y culpable sobre mis actos de voluntad adentro y afuero, actas físicas y actos mentales.
Pasando de estos tomos de sabidurías casi indescriptibles, comencé a leer los libros de Day y Lasch. Estos libros convertíos a la taza por beber del oasis que creció en mi corozon gracias al estudio de la filosofía de San Juan Pablo Segundo.
El estanque del oasis era un espejo, que me esta poniendo al descubierto tantas faltas, defectos y pecados que estan cosidas en la tela de mi día. Tantas actas de voluntad que convertíos a completamente normal al punto a convencerme que mis pecadores, irreconocible a me por tantas años, simplemente fue parte de mi personalidad.
Pecados no son personalidad. Mucha gente, no, casi todo nuestra sociedad, he abrasado este noción, que nuestros pecados simplemente son piezas de nuestras personalidades y singularidades. Y tratamos forzarlos a todo el mundo ... nuestras familias, amigos, compañeros de trabajo, enemigos, personas de servicios ...
Mea culpa, mea culpa, mea maxima culpa.
Leen mi familia, mis amigos. Leer y estudiar literatura buena. Puede ser su salvación de la alma eterna.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews