Theology of the Body - Solitude and Self-knowledge
Beginning with the General Audience of October 10, 1979, Pope John Paul II begins his reflections on the meaning of man’s original solitude as it is conveyed in the second account of creation in Genesis 2. These discourses on solitude will make up three audiences, which I will likely treat in two separate posts. This post will deal exclusively with the October 10 audience, and the next post will hopefully deal with the audiences of October 24 and 31, 1979, concluding the late Holy Father’s considerations on man’s original solitude.

In the Hebrew of Genesis there is a clear distinction (as in most languages) between “man” and “male.” In the second creation account “male” is not introduced until the time when God will create woman. Prior to that point only the word “man,” or “adam” is used. It is significant that the account of the creation of man in this text is a passage by itself, which comes before the creation of woman. The Holy Father writes, “The first man (adam), created from the ‘dust of the ground,’ is defined as ‘male’ (is) only after the creation of the first woman. Thus, when God-Yahweh speaks the words about solitude [“It is not good that man should be alone” (Gen 2:18)], he refers to the solitude of ‘man’ as such and not only to that of the male.” In other words, the solitude of man as described in Gen 2:18 refers to a significant circumstance for humanity, and not just for the male sex. He continues, “The complete context of this solitude, about which Genesis 2:18 speaks, can convince us that here we are dealing with the solitude of ‘man’ (male and female) and not only with the solitude of man-male, caused by the absence of woman. It seems, therefore, on the basis of the whole context, that this solitude has two meanings: one deriving from man’s very nature, that is, from his humanity (and this is evident in the account of Genesis 2), and the other deriving from the relationship between male and female.” What we will see presently is that the original solitude described in Genesis 2 indicates the genesis of man’s self-consciousness, and his realization of his own personhood, a realization which leads to his recognition of completeness in the union of male and female, which will be explored in detail at a later audience.

The solitude of man as described in Genesis 2 is not conveyed in the first creation account, where man is created “male and female” in the same stroke. In this second account, the fact that man is alone “turns out to be a fundamental anthropological issue that is in some way prior to the issue raised by the fact that man is male and female. The issue is prior, not only in the chronological sense, but rather in the existential sense: it is prior: ‘by its very nature.’” This is because the solitude of man, the fact of his being alone, even more than pointing to the completion which occurs in the union of male and female, primarily points to the uniqueness of man among all of creation. It is in this original solitude, before the creation of woman, that man is given a sense of his own superiority among creation. Man is given dominion over the rest of creation, and the rest of creation is made subject to him. “The first meaning of man’s original solitude is defined based on a specific ‘test’ or on an examination that man undergoes before God (and in some ways before himself). Through this ‘test,’ man gains the consciousness of his own superiority, that is, that he cannot be put on par with any other species of living beings on earth.”

Thus it is that in this solitude, placed in the “garden of Eden,” thereby indicating not only his original state of happiness but also in the first covenant relationship with God, that “the created man finds himself from the first moment of his existence before God in search of his own being.” Observing his solitude among the rest of creation enables man to define himself first negatively, in terms of what he is not, and from there be able to notice the discernible difference between himself and the rest of the animals (which Aristotle will tell us is man’s rational nature). Thus it is that man’s state of original solitude, whereby he finds himself alone before God, allows him to express, “through a first self-definition, his own self-knowledge as the first and fundamental manifestation of humanity.” It is man’s self-consciousness which makes him unique, his ability to reflect on his own nature, and it is just this which enables him to enter into this special relationship with God. “Consciousness reveals man as the one who possesses the power of knowing with respect to the visible world. With this knowledge, which makes him go in some way outside of his own being, man at the same time reveals himself to himself in all the distinctiveness of his being…Man is alone because he is ‘different’ from the visible world, the world of visible beings.” Thus this original solitude, which allows for the first act of self-consciousness, distinguishes man before God-Yahweh from the whole world of living beings, and consequently reveals himself to himself and “at the same time affirms himself in the visible world as a ‘person.’”

This will conclude the Holy Father’s first consideration of man’s state of original solitude in the second creation account in Genesis. I hope to combine his next two audiences into my next reflection, thus concluding his deliberation on the meaning of man’s original solitude.

Peace in Christ,
Michael