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| Leonardo Da-Vinci's Vitruvian Man |
Various characteristics contribute to the classification of an individual as a person and one of the prime and most obvious ones is ‘being human.’ Since all the people that we know of are humans, it is therefore rational to assume that all persons are humans. However there are certain exceptions to this, for example a dead individual is still technically human however they are not a person anymore although they once were. Other exceptions to this include fertilised egg cells which can be biologically classified as human being but are not people yet, which then gives their mothers the authority to abort them. Being a human being is necessary to being a person however it’s not sufficient and needs to be combined with other qualities in order to be classed as a person.
Another characteristic that contributes to being classified as a person is the possession of a network of faiths and beliefs. Most animals can be said to have some degree of beliefs, for example a deer hearing a distress call in the forest would be led to believe that its fellow deer’s are in danger of some sort, so acting on this belief might run away to protect itself from this danger. This is an example of a belief since there’s no proof that the other deer is in danger and the noise could have been made by other animals including humans. In order to qualify as a person, a more complex range of interrelated beliefs is necessary, which then gives the animals mental life a more sophisticated level of thinking which can be attributed to personhood. Most living adult humans possess such level of mental ability which could then assist us in their classification as persons.
Autonomy is a feature which differentiates persons from animals since in order to be a person you must have a high level of control over your life and your reaction to certain things, and your actions should not be based primarily on instincts. An example of this is seen in the occasion where fireworks are shot in the air, a bird after hearing the noise would be startled and would react to its survival instincts by flying far away from the noise despite not knowing if it’s in harm by it or not. However a human being after hearing such noise might acknowledge the noise has being loud but would also understand that it doesn’t place them at any danger. This degree of autonomy and reason enables humans to have sufficient control over their own lives, which in my opinion is vital for personhood.
Moreover, Individuality and personality is a crucial element which separates humans from other animals. Our ability to develop our own unique personalities is imperative to the classification as a person since this enables us to differentiate ourselves from everyone else around us. I believe that the human propensity to be able to develop individual personalities for themselves is just as common as it is for a spider to spin webs. The ability to be an individual is just as engraved in human nature as it is for a dog to bark. However, having a personality alone is not sufficient enough to gain personhood since many animals including chimps and dogs have clearly defined personalities however they aren’t persons since they often lack most of the other necessary characteristics of personhood.
On top of that, one aspect of personhood is also the ability to understand aesthetic and ethical values. This is often not seen in animals since they are unable to appreciate certain concepts such as morality or what is right and wrong. This aspect is however seen disproportionally in humans and they are able to fluently understand the idea of right and wrong and the concepts of beauty to such an extent that it would be right to grant them personhood. However although this ability is one that is often seen in persons, I don’t believe that its necessary for being a person since there are several other ways to be a person without actually having this ability. So although it’s a frequent tendency for persons to hold this ability, it’s not wholly necessary in the branding of personhood.
The ability to communicate is another element which most persons seem to have; this skill is displayed most eloquently by humans since they have the ability to communicate using language. However other animals have developed sophisticated communication methods, for example dolphins and chimps are able to communicate with each other rather elaborately. This is a vital element of personhood, but in hindsight the human ability to communicate far surpasses any other animal that it would be right to grant any human with sophisticated communicating and speaking skills, personhood. Nevertheless, the future possibility of androids who could possibly demonstrate highly complex communicating skills similar to humans poses a problem since they might lack some of the other qualities of personhood such as logic and reasoning but still present eloquent speaking skills. So therefore although being able to communicate is a frankly important aspect of personhood, it still isn’t sufficient for personhood.
Being able to reflect on your own past experiences and feelings as well as appreciating other people’s one’s is a very complex yet vital characteristic of personhood. The level of complexity required in order to perform this task is so high that the only animals that we believe can do this are humans, which therefore makes it likely that most humans are in fact persons. Part of being reflective doesn’t just include remembering your past experiences and feelings but you will also need to be able to imagine having different ones and this involves a high level of self awareness. This skill makes humans able to learn more effectively since the process of learning requires an adequate amount of reflection in order to be effective. I believe that this is a necessary skill which would constitute a vital part of personhood.
Being creative is yet another characteristic of a person. Creativity requires an intricate level of imagination which cannot be imagined in animals but can be seen vividly in humans. Creativity does not just include being able to produce things such as art since even elephants have been known to command an adequate skill for painting. However although they might have clearly produced creative pieces of art, however there is dispute as to whether or not that art constitutes any sense of meaning or perhaps even emotions which could have inspired it. This would normally require a great deal of self awareness which is normally seen in humans and rarely seen at a similarly complex level in other humans. For this reasons I believe that being creative is an important attribute in the definition of a person.
In conclusion, I believe that to define a person is a very complicated and ambiguous task since various aspects constitutes a person. However it’s clear that all persons that we know of are humans but that does not necessarily mean that all humans are persons since some humans might lack certain vital attributes of personhood. In occasions such as this I recommend the Cartesian dualist approach to this, since although the physical requirements of being a human being is necessary, the human being must also have a working human mind in order to be classified as a person. Essentially both matter and mind ultimately contribute to the classification of a person, since a working human mind normally has all the characteristics of a person which are listed above. So I believe that it’s fair to conclude that all humans with a working mind are persons.
By Ola Sanni
By Ola Sanni
