RETRIEVING THE HUMAN
COLERIDGE ON WILL, PERSON, AND CONSCIENCE
A Person is the subject bearing certain capacities [Subjekt des Könnens]. It thus makes no sense to speak of “potential persons.” Person is never a potentiality but always real. Personality does not itself develop but, instead, is what gives a specific human development its distinctive character. Thus we say “I was born on that date,” rather than “on that date a human being was born from which I gradually came to be.” We don’t employ the word “I” to signify “an I” (ein Ich). There is no such thing as “an I.” That is but an invention of Descartes. The personal pronoun “I” signifies the human that I myself am. Beings capable of indexing themselves we call persons. Yet we also call them persons when under certain circumstances [aktuell] they cannot refer to themselves or make reference of some other kind. The word “capacity” [können] carries multiple meanings. It makes sense to say: “I can [kann] play the piano.” If subsequently asked to do so even though no piano is at hand, I will answer: “There is no piano. Hence I cannot play.” To which it would be impermissible to reply: “But you said that you could play.” The capacity of playing the piano is a reality even when, in absence of a piano, it cannot be realized. And so “person” means not what a human being may come to be [werden kann], but instead refers to the human being who may come to be something in particular [aus dem etwas werden kann].
—Robert Spaemann