Person, personality, emotionality and character

CHARACTER AND PERSONALITY 1. Temperament 2. Character a. Emotionality b. Activity c. Resonance 3. Personality

person When we say that the PERSON of man is the supposit [=individual substance] of a rational nature, we are defining it in its ONTOLOGICAL meaning. PERSON has reference to the SUBSTANCE of man

1. TEMPERAMENT In his book “The Art of Total Living”, Mr S Borruso gives the following definition: “Temperament is the result of the interplay of the passions with the inherited influences of the visceral, muscular and nervous systems. A given temperament is always influenced by the three systems so that one does not dominate over the other two. The grades of overlapping are virtually infinite.”

Definitions of Temperaments Nervous. Anxious, panicky, jumpy, edgy Sentimental: touchy and hypersensitive. Choleric: becomes easily angry. Passionate: one who expresses powerful emotions, very enthusiastic. Sanguine: confident and hopeful about what might happen in a difficult situation. Phlegmatic: able to be calm in a dangerous or frightening situation. Amorphous: no clear stand point. Apathetic: not interested in or enthusiastic about anything.

As humans we have emotions too, but added to this is our intellect As humans we have emotions too, but added to this is our intellect. With our intellect we are able to know what is good and what is bad, and are therefore able to choose accordingly and guide our passions to what is good. Temperament refers to those aspects of an individual’s personality such as introversion, or extroversion, that are often regarded as innate rather than learned.

2. EMOTIONALITY A person is considered emotional if external or internal events “bring about a more or less intense shock in their physical and psychological existence.” - Such physical changes (voice intensity, pulse rate, speed of muscular movement, facial expression, blushing,) may be expressed clearly or remain hidden within the person. - An emotional person reacts to an event in a lively way, thus releasing some of his built up energy in a number of ways: shouting, tears, outburst of joy, etc.

- Emotionality, when related to character, “is the ability to be moved by events of minimal importance.” - Emotionality can also be related to a person’s areas of interest. - We can say that emotionality makes a person hypersensitive to anything within their field of interest. -Hence an emotional person remains indifferent to events lying outside that field.

Personality PERSONALITY has reference to the PROPERTIES of man, his ACTS, POWERS, and HABITS--all of which are ACCIDENTS

The person of man does not grow in stature; but the personality of man develops and enlarges itself according to the pattern of his actions, the matured use of his powers, and the schema of his habits. Personality, therefore, is something compounded of the acts, powers, and habits of man.

But whereas PERSON is entirely a GIFT and a BIRTHRIGHT, PERSONALITY is largely a matter of ONE’S OWN ACHIEVEMENT.

The acts, powers, and habits of man not only vary from one individual to another, but also are subject to changed within the same individual

INTEGRATION OF PERSONALITY means the gathering together and proper arranging of parts into a whole. The parts, in this case, are the acts, powers, and habits of man. The whole is a well-developed, well-rounded principle of human behavior.

4. Character CHARACTER is a principle of MORAL action We do not say that a man has a good or bad personality, but we do say that a man has a GOOD or BAD CHARACTER. Thus, if PERSONALITY is a principle of RATIONAL action, CHARACTER is a principle of MORAL action

CHARACTER Character is the expression of the personality of a human being, and that it reveals itself in his/her conduct. Therefore every person has character. - Only human beings, not animals have character; it implies rationality. - Character implies a certain unity of qualities with a recognizable degree of constancy in mode of action.

In mature life, a man’s character is the resultant of two factors: - the original or inherited elements of his being - those that he has acquired in the environment. Each human being has certain dispositions or capacities which affect the way he acts. These are: - structure of the bodily organism, especially - the nervous system - the soul, which has been created

Each person plays an important part in the moulding of his/her character. (Each person chooses how to behave) - We thus become responsible for certain ethical qualities in it. - Thus character has been defined as “natural temperament completely fashioned by the will.” - The exercise of the will plays a predominant part in moulding the type of character being formed.