Philippine E-Journals

Being a Person in a Political World: Edith Stein and the Soul

Sarah Borden Sharkey

Discipline: Philosophy

 

Abstract:

Our understanding of the structure of human beings is deeply related to our understanding of the types of human communities—including political ones—that are both possible and desirable. There is a long tradition of correlating an account of the individual with a vision of the ideal polity. In this essay I explicate Edith Stein’s theory of the soul by looking at her claims in light of the political debate between liberalism and communitarianism. The first group, political liberals, place particular emphasis on individual freedoms and rights, whereas the second, communitarians, place greater emphasis on the communal conditions under which we become more and less independent individuals. Stein’s account of the person has affinities with both traditions and therefore may offer a way to integrate the two sets of (often competing) political concerns.