Self-Gift and Gratitude: Karol Wojtyla’s Personalist Ethics of Education

Abstract

Karol Wojtyła underscores the perils of depersonalization as a fundamental threat to both individual dignity and societal cohesion. Depersonalization not only disrupts family structures but also reduces individuals to mere means, thereby justifying harmful actions under certain conditions. In response, Wojtyła advocates for the sincere gift of the self—a disinterested offering that preserves the inherent dignity of the person. Contemporary educational institutions increasingly exhibit manifestations of individualism and collectivism. Under individualism, for example, liberal capitalism transforms education into a transactional exchange in which students are treated as customers, teachers as employees, and administrators as asset managers, thus commodifying the educational process. This trend contributes to the corruption of educational professionals, who begin to regard others solely as potential sources of profit rather than as ends in themselves. As reiterated in Ex Corde Ecclesiae, education must serve the truth and protect the intrinsic worth of every human being. In this context, the present research applies Karol Wojtyła’s personalist philosophy to education. I argue that the principles of self-gift and gratitude provide a robust framework for addressing the moral challenges posed by universities afflicted with individualistic and collectivistic tendencies that promote transactional rather than personalist forms of education which absolutely squanders the gift of the capacity to know the truth and be in service of the good.