Man in the Great Chain of Being

Abstract

This article examines the ontological position of the human being within the scale of beings through a synthesis of classical metaphysics and contemporary philosophical anthropology. Beginning with Kant’s fundamental question—“What is man?”—it surveys how thinkers such as Kant, Scheler, and Heidegger have recognized the modern failure to attain a unified understanding of the human being. In response, the article proposes a “metanthropology,” that is, an anthropology grounded in metaphysics. Drawing from the Thomistic tradition, man is portrayed as a “microcosm” and as the “horizon and boundary” in which spirit and matter converge—granting him a relative autonomy with respect to other beings. Yet this condition is marred by interior disorder, theologically understood as original sin. Through the lens of Soloviev’s thought, the existential drama of modern man is brought into focus: he is torn between the innate desire for immortality and truth, and the natural incapacity to attain either by his own power. Deprived of a transcendent principle, reason and conscience prove insufficient to redeem his fallen state. The article concludes that only divine grace can restore lost harmony and elevate man beyond his natural level, thus enabling him to transcend his place within the ontological hierarchy.