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Thoughts on lots of things, especially education, psychology, culture, religion, and personal growth.

Saturday, January 11, 2014

Musings on personhood

What does it mean to be a Person?  What is the definition? 

What are the required elements that go into this definition, so that if any one of the elements are missing, the object in question is not a Person?

Or should Personhood be defined in such an exclusive way? Couldn't Personhood rather be more holographic, in that only a few from a list of possible elements are necessary to fulfill the requirement, (kind of like psychiatric disorders are often defined)?  Something like, "If X fulfills at least 3 out of the 7 criteria, then X is a Person."

Is Personhood bestowed or innate?  Is it objective or subjective? Do we discover it or create it?

What is the "ergo" that follows Personhood? In other words, how should this sentence finish: "X is a Person; therefore..."?

How should a Person be treated or not treated? What should a Person do or not do? What is the spectrum of possibilities for a Person? What distinguishes Personhood from mere societal function?

It might be interesting to create a flow chart of possible answers people might give, with some interesting conclusions based on their answers.  I bet I could figure out a way to make some answers allow a cactus to be a Person, or the weather.

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