What is a human? What makes me human? If humans are also animals, what makes us different from them? How can we be truly human? These are some of the questions that are left unanswered in my minds. These are the thoughts that kept running in my mind when I’m all alone at night. To further understand about the nature of human, its essence and attributes, we first need to know what the definition of a man is.

What does it mean to be truly human? Karl Marx argued that to be truly human is to be able to express ourselves through labor; man is faithful to his nature when he is able to actualize himself to what he does. For Heidegger, one becomes truly human when he lives a life of anticipation, of knowing the truth about death and by allowing the Dasien to live a life authentically. Meanwhile, Fr. Moga believed that the question of how to become truly human is not only limited to Philosophical discourse, it also involve social, anthropological, theological and contextual paradigms which implies that there are many humanisms and religions around the world that have formulated their own quests to discover the heart of humanity this now created many dichotomies in understanding humanity as a whole. These dichotomies have to be reconciled by reformulating the given question by asking “What is the ‘essence ‘of becoming truly human?” Here, we clearly diminish the ambiguity of the thought provoking question by answering ‘why there is a need to be a truly human person’. Why our labor should become an extension of our identity? Why do we need to anticipate death and why do we need find the truth and meaning of our existence?
According to Blando, The being of man is the being that continuously search for truth and meaning in life. One can find truth but did not achieve its full meaning while some able to find the meaning but does not end with truth. A sick man might be able to find the truth behind his illness but not able to discover why that truth exist. A lost child may realize why he was lost but still not able to find the right direction. A teacher may find the meaning of his profession but lacks the awareness of the right method to teach a child. This continuous searching of man for truth and meaning allows him to discover many potentialities that are inherent in him. These potentialities are not only embedded in his soul. He is born with it and made for it. In seeking he makes himself ‘free’ as he opens himself to many possibilities. The possibility of failure, success, truth, lie, pain, joy, betrayal, trust, love and rejection. All these experiences are essential in the making man to be truly human because when one finds the truth and meaning of his ‘being’ he is now more closer to living a life fulfilled.