FREE ESSAY ON "THE EMOTIONAL, INTELLECTUAL AND MORAL ORIENTATIONS OF CONSCIOUSNESS OF THE HUMAN PERSON AND HOW THEY BECOME DISORIENTATED."

"THE EMOTIONAL, INTELLECTUAL AND MORAL ORIENTATIONS OF CONSCIOUSNESS OF THE HUMAN PERSON AND HOW THEY BECOME DISORIENTATED."

Introduction
"Man's world is manifold, and his attitudes are manifold. What is manifold is often
frightening because it is not neat or simple. Men prefer to forget how many possibilities
are open to them." (Kaufmann,1970) 
The human person is neither simple nor neat. It is a dynamic structure with many
correlated parts, some of which are still areas of mystery, intrigue and simple
ignorance. Thus to try and discuss the orientations of the human person we must try to
narrow our fields of examination. This is in no way ideal but Purcell in 'I am I love
you; the human person as friend' implicates three distinct areas of orientation; the
emotional/ aesthetic, the intellectual and the moral. These areas are actively orientated
towards beauty, truth and good respectively. These orientations, when genuine, are not
contained solely within the self or I but as we are dynamic structures firmly rooted
within the world our orientations are projected outwards towards another or a Thou. It is
when these orientations are confined within the I or when projected onto an It or We that
these aspects of ourselves becomes disoriented.
Orientation
I
When we begin to try and look into the emotional orientations of the human person it is
obvious that we should try and examine its product, namely Art. Art is the manifestation
of emotional communication, the voice inside that cries out to the other, waiting for a
reply. The composer Arnold Schoenberg described this expression best in 1909:
"Art is a cry of distress from those who live out within themselves the destiny of
humanity, ......they are those who do not turn their eyes away to protect themselves from
emotion but open them wide to oppose what must be attacked. They do, however, often close
their eyes to perceive what the senses do not covey, to look inside of what seems to be
happening on the surface. Inside them turns the movement of the world; only an echo of it
leaks out ?the work of art." 
In the first essay, called 'dialogue', in his "Between Man and Man", Martin Buber
describes a recurring dream he has where he lets out a cry into the world. His cry is
answered by a new 'echo' which seems to answer questions that were, unbeknownst to him,
contained within his own original cry. If we take Art as this 'cry of distress' it can be
seen that the artist is indeed waiting for that returning cry of recognition, a deep
meaningful connection through a dialogue without the boundaries or confines that encase
us in everyday survival .It is through this dialogue that the human person bypasses
restrictions to reach his audience and to converse and communicate with his own
community, humanity.
II
In the search for truth the intellectual mind has often emphasised theory rather than
experience. For our purposes though, both experience and knowledge of others and
ourselves are required to examine the intellectual orientations of the person. For it is
not just how I see myself as being but also how I live my life that is the embodiment of
my personal truth. The phrase " having the courage of our convictions" can have a
profound meaning in so far that in our search for our own meaning we must live out our
own truth. Victor Frankl, while in a Nazi concentration camp, saw how people found
strength in the meaning rather than the quality of their lives:
We who lived in concentration camps can remember the men who walked through the huts
comforting others, giving away their last piece of bread. They may have been few in
number, but they offer sufficient proof that everything can be taken from a man but one
thing: the last of human freedoms - to choose one's attitude in any given set of
circumstances - to choose one's own way. (Victor Frankl) 
Again, however, we cannot over look the importance of interaction with another in
defining our own meaning. Through thinking with others we can discover our own thinking
and expand our own horizons of understanding. For genuine dialogue of our cognitive
experiences is just as important a communication as artistic expression or acts of
goodness. 
III
Whereas our intellectual orientation moves us towards the truth, our moral orientation
moves us towards what is good not just for ourselves but also for the community of man.
It was Sartre who expressed the view in 'Existentialism and Humanism' that we are, in our
choices, choosing for all mankind. It is for us as humans to choose what is good for all
so that we can all become better as one. In his essay "Moral education and the challenge
of the 21st century", Luis Ugalde states how deep rooted our orientation towards the good
is:
"So important is the highest good, and so strong is our adherence to it, that it is able
to direct all other factors and subordinate the other partial goods, instincts and
personal inclinations. This is not because of its being imposed upon me, but as a result
of the very meaning of that superior good for me. Indeed, I may give up my own life in
order to attain it" 
It is the enactment of this greater good that essentially has meaning for us. The ability
to construct moral theory will always come second to our deep will to bring our moral
orientations into being in the here and now. It is this required immediacy of belief,
which can cause us to find solace in lesser goods or even evils. The responsibility that
comes with goodness is often great, but is dwarfed by the eternal meaning of the
actions.
Disorientation
IV
As I stated in my introduction it is when the person becomes unable to partake in the
practising of their orientations, they become disoriented and produce a distorted self.
This distorted self will thus have what Purcell calls 'pseudo-relationships' with a
'pseudo-other'. The relationship will be completely objective as the person will not be
able to maintain a subjective relationship which is seen as avoidable due to its
instability, unpredictability and its requirements of self honesty and truth. This can
greatly exemplify by patient suffering from schizophrenia. Here is a description by a
schizophrenia sufferer, Janice C. Jordan, of the condition as she saw it:
"The schizophrenic experience can be a terrifying journey .... It is a journey through a
world that is deranged, empty, and devoid of anchors to reality. You feel very much
alone. You find it easier to withdraw than cope with a reality that is incongruent with
your fantasy world. You feel tormented by distorted perceptions. You cannot distinguish
what is real from what is unreal. Schizophrenia affects all aspects of your life. Your
thoughts race and you feel fragmented and so very alone with your 'craziness'." 
The anxiety felt by the patient inhibits their ability to develop genuine interpersonal
relationships and often results in creation of imaginary characters. In Janice's case she
created a friend, whom she called 'the controller', that took away all her negative
emotions, which enabled her to cope with her reality, but as often happens the
alternative reality began to take over and consume her:
"The problems were compounded when I went off to college. Suddenly, the Controller
started demanding all my time and energy. He would punish me if I did something he didn't
like. He spent a lot of time yelling at me and making me feel wicked. I didn't know how
to stop him from screaming at me and ruling my existence. It got to the point where I
couldn't decipher reality from what the Controller was screaming. So I withdrew from
society and reality. I couldn't tell anyone what was happening because I was so afraid of
being labeled as crazy. I didn't understand what was going on in my head. I really
thought that other normal people had Controllers too." 
V
"Mundus vult decepti: the world wants to be deceived. The truth is too complex and
frightening; the taste for the truth is an acquired taste that few acquire."(Kaufmann,
1970) 
The truth is like a toothache. In ignoring it, it will cause you pain and discomfort. It
is only through acceptance and resolution that you can overcome the pain that you
inevitably cause yourself. In essence, truth triumphs. In the disorientated person, a
particularly elusive form of self-deception occurs. The more they avoid the truth of
their reality the more convicted their defense of their false reality becomes. This
immediately places a barrier between the disorientated person and any kind of genuine
interpersonal relationships as this interaction might pose a threat to the security of
their perceived self.
"Since other persons play such a big part in confirming or critically exposing my
imaginary world, a specific scotoma or defacement of others develops, in which I filter
out of my awareness any threat you make to me."(Purcell) 
The new idolatry view of themselves will always be under threat. If left ignored the
decay may become too much and if reality does enter the person no longer has the ability
to transcend themselves and is left in a world of denial, fear and self contempt.
VI
Too many times in the examination of human history, we come across examples of moral
deviation. We do not have to look far to find a period where someone has succumbed to his
or her personal desires. In fact, it is our submission to our personal desires that has
characterised our modern living. This, however, has been evident throughout time. If we
look at the Shakespeare's 'Macbeth' we can see a classic example of the moral person
becoming distorted by personal gain:
"The Prince of Cumberland: that is a step,
On which I must fall down, or else o'erleap,
For in my way it lies. Stars hide your fires,
Let not see my black and deep desires:
The eye wink at the hand; yet let be,
Which the eye fears, when it is done to see."
(Macbeth I.4) 
The horrible implications of the triumph of ones own desire is that others must suffer in
the process. This is the complete antithesis of genuine human orientation, that for the
benefit of the self, others must pay the price. If we consider the poetry of Siegreid
Sassoon, written during the First World War, we can read first hand accounts of how
Sassoon saw himself and his men suffer due to the weakened morals of the commanding
generals.
"The great ones of the earth
Approve, with smiles and bland salutes, the rage
And monstrous tyranny they have brought to birth.
The great ones of the earth
Are much concerned about the wars they wage,
And quite aware of what those wars are worth" 
-'Great Men' (1918) 
Unfortunately it has been through the tragic suffering of others that our concept of the
morally distorted self has come. This has also been hard to detect within the self, as
the disorientated person does not necessarily belief that what they are doing is in fact
evil. They are consumed by the passion to destroy all opposition to their twisted belief
and once they have gone so far, they cannot come back.
"I am in blood,
Stepp'd in so far, that should I wade no more,
Returning were as tedious as o'er:"
(Macbeth, III.5) 
Conclusion
The human person is indeed complex and varied but this is the reason why we love each
other. From the moment that a child recognises that it is itself an individual, separate
from another, until the day we are no more, we develop the orientations of our own
consciousness. It is however through genuine love of another, that we can over come the
distortions within our personal identity and regain a true awareness of others and
ourselves. It is only when this occurs that we can experience being addressed by another
or Thou. It is in this moment of personal resurrection that we can truly find as Purcell
put it 'unity within ourselves through unity with another human being', or as the
contemporary singer/songwriter, P.J Harvey put it: 
"When we walked 
Through Little Italy
I saw my reflection
Come right off your face"
('Good Fortune', 2000)
Bibliography.
Bolton, Robert. 'Person, Soul and Identity' (Minerva press, Washington, London, Montreux,
1994)
Buber, Martin. 'Between Man and Man'. (Collins Fontana library, London and Glasgow,
1947)
Buber, Martin. 'I and Thou' (T&T Clarke Edinburgh, 1970)
Grout, D.J and Palisca, C.V. 'A history of western music' 
(W.W. Norton & Company, New York, London)
Philips Griffiths, A. 'Philosopy, psychology and psychiatry'. (Cambridge University
Press, Cambridge, New York, Melbourne, 1994)
Purcell, Brendan. 'I am I love you: the human person as friend'. (University College
Dublin library, photocopy no. 4434)
Shakespeare, William. 'Macbeth'. (Penguin Popular Classics, Reading, 1994) 
Sassoon, Seigfried. 'The War Poems'. (Faber and Faber, London,1983)