With a particular emphasis on the soul, this book explores Edith Stein's holistic conception of the human being's body-soul-spirit unity, which forms the foundation of her Christian anthropology and her view of human formation. Characterized by an unremitting attention to interconnections, Stein emerges as a forerunner of contemporary holistic approaches. Edith Stein and the Body-Soul-Spirit at the Center of Holistic Formation demonstrates the breadth and relevance of Stein's work by engaging her thought with the anthropological views of fellow phenomenologist John Paul II, Wilkie Au's perspectives on holistic spirituality and formation, and several nonreductionist, neuroscientific viewpoints of the human being. This book also makes available to the English reader a significant amount of material from Stein's untranslated works. Anyone interested in theological anthropology, holistic spirituality, human formation, the body-mind question, or Edith Stein studies will benefit from the wealth of material presented in this single book. With a particular emphasis on the soul, this book explores Edith Stein's holistic conception of the human being's body-soul-spirit unity, which forms the foundation of her Christian anthropology and her view of human formation. Characterized by an unremitting attention to interconnections, Stein emerges as a forerunner of contemporary holistic approaches. Edith Stein and the Body-Soul-Spirit at the Center of Holistic Formation demonstrates the breadth and relevance of Stein's work by engaging her thought with the anthropological views of fellow phenomenologist John Paul II, Wilkie Au's perspectives on holistic spirituality and formation, and several nonreductionist, neuroscientific viewpoints of the human being. This book also makes available to the English reader a significant amount of material from Stein's untranslated works. Anyone interested in theological anthropology, holistic spirituality, human formation, the body-mind question, or Edith Stein studies will benefit from the wealth of material presented in this single book. Acknowledgments vii List of Abbreviations xi 1 Introduction 1 The Critique of Radical or Substance Dualism 4 Edith Stein and the Soul 7 Stein's Body-Soul Holism versus Dualism 9 Holistic Anthropology as the Basis for Holistic Spirituality 10 Edith Stein the Scholar 10 Methodology and Overview 11 2 Stein's Methodology 21 Edith Stein the Phenomenologist 23 The Phenomenological Approach 24 Stein's Attitude toward Philosophy and Theology 33 A Question of Docility 36 Conclusion 40 3 Stein's Ontology and Anthropology 47 Being, That Which Is, Essence (Sein, Seiende, Wesen) 48 Potency and Act 51 God: Pure Being, Pure Act, First Existent 53 Form and Matter 53 Ousia, Substance 56 The "I" and the Person 59 Physical Body and Living Body (K rper and Leib) 61 Animal Soul 63 Spirit 64 Human Soul 72 Question of the Soul at Death 78 Creation as Image of the Personal Triune God 79 Conclusion 84 4 Formation and Development of the Human Being 91 Formation of the Living Being 93 Formation of the Human Being 94 Self-Formation 101 Power for Formation 107 Formation after Death 112 God's Plan and Human Free Will 112 Eternal Life as the Vocation of All Human Beings 115 Importance of Community 116 Mystical Body of Christ 118 Christian Formation 120 Carmelite Mysticism 124 Conclusion 126 5 Contemporary Holistic Perspectives: The Human Being and Formation 135 Edith Stein the Catholic Thinker 136 Anthropological Views of Pope John Paul II 137 Wilkie Au on Holistic Formation 152 Conclusion 161 6 Contemporary Views Regarding the Human Being Based on Research in Neuroscience 167 A Springboard for Stein's Engagement with Contemporary Philosophy and Science 169 Interactionist Dualism of John Eccles 173 Holist-Mentalist Theory of Roger Sperry 179 Nonreductive Physicalism: Nancey Murphy, Warren Brown, Malcolm Jeeves, and Ray Anderson 183 Neurotheology of Andrew Newberg and Eugene D'Aquili 189 Conclusion 192 7 Implications and Conclusion 199 Bibliography 211 Index 225