Esse versus habere – dualitatea voinței umane
Esse versus Habere – The Duality of Human Will

Summary/Abstract: Man's existence for “to be” or for “to have”, depends on how he understands hismeaning in the world. This study aims to offer the reader an orthodoxview on these two terms, in the hope that it touches the existentialsubstance of contemporary man. When man “stole” deification,possession (of having) became an existential archetype in his physicalstructure. The serpent bound the soul of the primordial man to aphantasmagoria, a magical deification. The principle of possessionexpresses man's desire to transform the world into an object ofconsumption. The fundamental difference between possession and beingis that things are worn out by their use, while the being exercised day byday develops to perfection. The need of transcendence, intrinsic to man,has undergone an ontological change that has found naive compensationin the field of technology. Fathers of the desert teaches us to evaluate theworld through an unpassionate perception. The evangelical and patristicprecepts put in contrast the desire for spiritual growth with a desirepossession. This vision of detachment, gives man a sort of discernmentthat makes him responsible in relation to God, nature and to himself. St.John Chrysostom, recommends the desert as a pedagogical school againstpassions. The decision of the monks to go to the wilderness was motivatedby both the desire to give up the world, possessions and honours, and tofully belong to God. In conclusion, compulsive opening to possessionsand objects is mental and not spatial. The contemporary man needs toreflect on what really matters in an ephemeral world.

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