This introduction provides the reader with a solid philosophical understanding of the structure of the human person. Its first chapters follow the basic outlines of the philosophical anthropology laid out by Aristotle and Thomas Aquinas, while the last chapter enriches this classical vision of the human being with insights gleaned from contemporary personalist authors such as Karol Wojtyla, Joseph Ratzinger, and Leonardo Polo. Topics covered in this book include questions about what life is, the relation of body and soul, the life of the senses and feelings, the life of reason and freedom, the ethical life and virtue, the dignity of the person, her openness and relationship to others and to God, and, finally, a consideration of the human person as created gift.