What Is a Human Person?

What Is humans Person? Essay What is a person? A seemingly easy question, however, once looked into, the ideas and presumptions that people accommodate atomic number 18 fill up with contradictions and controversies. Many people, religions, organisations, and governments generate a differing opinion on what qualities an entity must bear to be a person, however, there are many similarities. Many religions, for example, retrieve a person, houses an immortal soul or spirit, capable of eternal life. at that place is also the question raised are serviceman universes the only unitys who basis be a person, layabout wolfs and instruments also be, or suffer persons? Philosophers gener aloney agree that there are several key characteristics that shadower be discussed concerning personhood. The characteristics are as follows A soul (or spirit), embodiment of the psychological and physical (the question of the intelligence being separate to the ashes), the idea of beliefs an d morals, rationality, self-importance awareness, the use of language and meaning, self consultion (and imagination), and exploring what several(predicate) societies and peoples, emplacement as a full and whole person.Religions house some of the oldest beliefs and explanations of this world, and hold a key way to understanding the people of the past, as well as their ways of thinking and explanation. Whilst modern science had proven a mint candy of religious beliefs (such as the origins and complexities of the of the universe) to be false, many people base their view of a person on that of their religions. For example, Christianity.The belief of the Christian Church is that either compassionate being in born with a soul, this soul the dwells inside them is unobservable, however, it is the immortal, personal touch on between themselves and God, connecting through prayer and reflection, and is believed that every person possesses this, thereby rendering a soul as a destiny of personhood. However, since the soul is unobservable, there is seemingly no way to tell whether or not a person has one, or if they exist at all.However, the Catholic Church also teaches that human beings were created in the image of God, therefore do every human a sacred being, and possessing a soul, their spiritual link between themselves and the divine. Therefore, a soul, spirit or equivalent is a ask post of personhood to the spiritual or religious person. An some other key forefront of relevancy is ones oral sex, the question of the mind and corpse, are they one thing, or do they exist separately from each other?The mind is the term often referring to the higher functions of the flair, the totally of conscious and unconscious amiable activity that controls the way we think, feel judge, our intellect and consciousness, perception, emotion, memory, imagination et cetera. The mind resides deep down the brain, and is central to our being, it controls us, it is us. The brain is the one part of the eubstance that humans have been unable to create via artificial means scientific progress has allowed the body to function using artificial means, such as machines aiding, or sometimes in place of our internal organs.Given time, research and money, it is theoretically executable for the brain to function outside the body, through a machine (A body could almost be considered a machine, as the brain sends out galvanic signals to control the rest of the body). In this sense, yes, the mind is a separate being to the body, able to function outside of the flesh when given an adequate reference of power. The body, in a sense, is a battery, and output source for the mind, much want a gaming condole with and a game disc.The disc holds the functions, and the con sole executes them. The mind relies on the body to function, however they are two different entities. This theory completely disregards the mortal body as being a part of personhood, or rather, everythin g but the brain and its processes. This raises the question of whether or not an animal or robot (machine) can be a person. Following on from the previous paragraph, the idea that a persons mind can exist and function within a machine poses the question of a machine being a person in itself.As modern science has enab take virtually every part of the body (except the brain) to be touch oned and function as a machine, it is not solely implausible for science to get as far as to reconstruct the brain through mechanics, the brain consciousness, activities and functions, electrical currents, being uploaded into the mechanical brain. The human mind, being present in the machine knows itself to be a person, observes itself as a person therefore associationes itself as a person. It has the mind and processes of a person, therefore sees itself as a person.A vital part of personhood whitethorn in fact acknowledging oneself (and others) as people. In a Descartes desire manner, I think I am a person, therefore I am a person. The cogency to be able to reflect on ones self and being, an ability that only human beings possess, can be considered another trait of personhood. The humans ability to the reflect, commiserate and empathise with each other and other beings is something that is specific (as far as scientific progress has proved) to humans alone.From these stem the ideas of ethics and morality, which again separate off to the law of society behaviour. An animal, for example, will not stop preying on other animal because they see it as morally wrong, the animal sees the other simply as food, to eat. A human however, has a respect and entertain for life, thus why some people choose to become vegetarians. An animal does not process this, and continues to kill other animals to sustain nourishment. This respect for life, and others, has led to the creation of laws to maintain an orderly and fully functioning society.Society and laws have differing opinions on what a person can or cannot do. These vary demesne to country, even state to state. Age regulations and restrictions restrict what a person of a certain age or ability can or cannot do. This may influence thinking that people of a certain age or ability are not full people, but underdeveloped, or not people. The subject of personhood is a difficult one, if one defines a person as having the qualities or w, x, y, and z, it is certainly possible for some animals to qualify as persons, or some people to not. owever, if one defines a person as a human being, indeed one has to then define a human being. The English language reinforces the theory of a human being the sole entity capable of personhood as the word person and human being are used interchangeably. Although modern secularism and the more traditional religious views have differing ideas, it all comes down to the individuals opinion. This also comes back to individual beliefs and truths, as well as the persons ability to think and reflect on a subject.If one believes a person has qualities x and y, then all things with these qualities are persons. If one believes a person is a human being, then human beings to them are persons. And argument could be made that the ability to think, reflect, argue and to form an opinion through observation, belief and personal value over what is a person makes one a person themselves, thereby making anyone agreeing or disagreeing with these examples a person.Bibliography. Law, Stephen, 2007. The Great Philosophers, Quercus Publishing Plc, London. Handouts from class What is a Human Person? Summary Notes Problems of Knowledge The Brain in the Vat The Weekend Australian Magazine January 30-31st, 2010 Can animals think? The Human Being Roman Catholic perspective Metaphysics Handout Handout with exerts from several(a) stories I, Rodney Brooks, am a Robot, How Smart is the Octopus, Spanish Parliament Etc.