Remember that You are a Human Being:  On the Formation of the Category of the Personality  in the Works of Mauss and Boethius

The concept of personality may seem intuitively clear, but it is not easy to define or explain. It is often considered a transcultural and transhistorical universality. However, Marcel Mauss demonstrates that different cultures have varying understandings of what an individual represents. Boethius' definition is considered an important turning point, but how did he arrive at such a definition, and why did it have such a significant impact? Although many researchers have attempted to answer this question, no definitive answer has been found. This article aims to approach an answer by combining two perspectives: historical and philosophical analysis of ideas and textual analysis. That is, оn the one hand, the article shows how the concept of personality arose during Christological and Trinitarian disputes. However, the resulting concept appears abstract, logically inconsistent, and not very applicable to humans. On the other hand, the article analyzes Boethius' texts, their communicative and dialogical direction towards the Other and towards oneself in the face of the Other. It is here that the concept takes on flesh: as Boethius not only explains the concept of personality but also demonstrates how it works.

Keywords

individual, subject, personality, Trinitarian disputes, Christological disputes, dialogue, substance, nature, anthropology, theology

Received

27.12.2023

Publication date

27.12.2023

Number of characters

44428

Cite

GOST	Bandurovskyi K. “Remember that You are a Human Being”: On the Formation of the Category of the Personality in the Works of Mauss and Boethius // Chelovek – 2023. – V. 34. – Issue 6 C. 120-141 [Electronic resource]. URL: https://chelovek-journal.ru/S023620070029307-4-1 (circulation date: 17.05.2024). DOI: 10.31857/S023620070029307-4
MLA	Bandurovskyi, Konstantin V "“Remember that You are a Human Being”: On the Formation of the Category of the Personality in the Works of Mauss and Boethius." Chelovek 34.6 (2023):120-141. DOI: 10.31857/S023620070029307-4
APA	Bandurovskyi K. (2023). “Remember that You are a Human Being”: On the Formation of the Category of the Personality in the Works of Mauss and Boethius. Chelovek 34(6), pp.120-141 DOI: 10.31857/S023620070029307-4

100 rub.

When subscribing to an article or issue, the user can download PDF, evaluate the publication or contact the author. Need to register.

Number of purchasers: 0, views: 84

Readers community rating: votes 0

1. Boetius. Kakim obrazom Troitsa est' edinyi Bog, a ne tri bozhestva [How the Trinity is One God, Not Three Gods], transl. from Latin by T.Yu. Boroday. Boethius. “Uteshenie Filosofiei” i drugie traktaty [“Consolation of Philosophy” and Other Treatises]. Moscow: Nauka Publ., 1990a.

2. Boetius. Kommentarii k Porfiriyu [Commentary on Porphyry], transl. from Latin by T.Yu. Boroday. Boethius. “Uteshenie Filosofiei” i drugie traktaty [“Consolation of Philosophy” and Other Treatises]. Moscow: Nauka Publ., 1990b.

3. Boetius. Protiv Evtiiya i Nestoriya [Against Eutyches and Nestorius], transl. from Latin by T.Yu. Boroday. Boethius. “Uteshenie Filosofiei” i drugie traktaty [“Consolation of Philosophy” and Other Treatises]. Moscow: Nauka Publ., 1990c.

4. Boetius. Uteshenie Filosofiei Boethius [Consolation of Philosophy], transl. from Latin by T.Yu. Boroday. Boethius. “Uteshenie Filosofiei” i drugie traktaty [“Consolation of Philosophy” and Other Treatises]. Moscow: Nauka Publ., 1990d.

5. Ioann Damaskin. O sta eresyakh vkratse [On the Hundred Heresies in Brief], transl. by A.I. Sagardya. Polnoe sobranie tvorenii Sv. Ioanna Damaskina [Complete Works of St. John of Damascus]. St. Petersburg, 1913.

6. Mamardashvili M.K. “Dyavol igrayet nami, kogda my ne myslim tochno…” [ “The devil plays with us when we do not think accurately...”]. Theater. N 3. Moscow, 1989. Р. 88–96.

7. Morgan L.G. Drevnee obshchestvo, ili Issledovanie linii chelovecheskogo progressa ot dikosti cherez varvarstvo k tsivilizatsii [Ancient Society, or Research on the Lines of Human Progress from Savagery through Barbarism to Civilization], transl. from Engl. ed. by M.O. Kosven. Leningrad: Publishing House of the Institute of the Peoples of the North of the Central Executive Committee of the USSR, 1934.

8. Moss. M. Ob odnoi kategorii chelovecheskogo dukha: ponyatie lichnosti, ponyatie “ya”. [On a Category of the Human Spirit: The Concept of Personality, the Concept of “I”]. Moss M. Obshchestva. Obmen. Lichnost'. Trudy po sotsial'noi antropologi [Societies. Exchange. Personality. Works on Social Anthropology], сompil., transl. from French, forew., introd. art., comments by A.B. Hofman. Moscow: KDU Publ., 2011.

9. Polibii. Vseobshchaya istoriya: v 3 t. [Universal History: in 3 vol.], transl. from Greek by F.G. Mishchenko. Vol. 2. St. Petersburg: Nauka Publ., 2005.

10. Saga Tristanama i Isonde [Saga of Tristan and Isolde], transl. from Old Norse by S.I. Nedelyaeva-Stepanavichene. Legenda o Tristane i Izol'de [Legend of Tristan and Isolde], ed. by A.D. Mikhailov. Moscow: Nauka Publ., 1976.

11. Arlig A. The Metaphysics of Individuals in the Opuscula Sacra. The Cambridge Companion to Boethius, ed. by J. Marenbon. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2009. P. 129–154.

12. Benedict R. Patterns of Culture. Boston; New York: Houghton, Mifflin and Company, 1934.

13. Benedict R. Zuni Mythology: in 2 vol. New York: Columbia University Press, 1935.

14. Radin Р. Primitive Man as Philosopher, with a foreword by J. Dewey. New York; London: D. Appleton & Co., 1927.

15. Radin P. The Trickster. London: Routledge & Kegan Paul, 1956.