Aristotle on Becoming Human

• Main Author: Claudia Baracchi
• Format: Article
• Language: Spanish
• Published: Universidad Panamericana 2013-11-01
• Series: Tópicos
• Subjects: Aristóteles; ética; libertad; autorrealización; autosuperación.
• Online Access: http://topicosojs.up.edu.mx/ojs/index.php/topicos/article/view/33

The essay focuses on Aristotle's reflections on the human being—on humanity not as given, but in fact always to come, understood as a task. I highlight the constructive work involved in becoming human and show that, far from construction in its merely techno-mechanical character, at stake is a formative process vastly proceeding in the dark, lacking eidetically clear guidelines. Indeed, it is through such a process, through such a groping, that eidetic clarification, if at all possible, may be accomplished. In the examination of the extraordinary artifact that the human being is, I discuss matters pertaining to the indemonstrability of first principles; the architectonic character of ethics and its fundamental function vis-à-vis all other human endeavors, including the scientific disciplines(ethics as first philosophy); the relation between human constitution and nature; and issues of freedom, self-making, and self-overcoming. Keywords: Aristotle, ethics, freedom, self-making, selfovercoming.