Actually a subject of discussion and debate for centuries, science, religion and philosophers have all questioned when and how personhood begins, what is the precise time and what is the nature of the occurrence. It has never been universally agreed upon when a human is actually recognized as a person.
Even with the advances in scientific knowledge the debate has continued, some believe it is at conception others believe it is not until the brain of the unborn child is fully developed and still others believe it's once the soul has entered the body. Most of this has to do with the ethical and religious beliefs associated with abortion. Ancient writers held diverse views on the subject of the beginning of personhood and most believed it was the soul's entry or development in the human body. Aristotle developed a theory of progressive ensoulment. In On the Generation of Animals, he declared that the soul develops first a vegetative soul, then animal, and finally human.
The Early Church held various views on the subject, primarily either the ensoulment at conception or delayed hominization, the process of becoming human. Tertullian and early Christian author held the view of traducianism, the soul was derived from the parents and generated in parallel with the generation of the physical body. In general, the soul was viewed as some kind of animating principle; and the human variety was referred to as the "rational soul." Some medieval Christian theologians held the belief that ensoulment occurs when an infant takes its first breath of air. They cite, among other passages, Genesis 2:7, which reads: "And the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul.
The Early Church held various views on the subject, primarily either the ensoulment at conception or delayed hominization, the process of becoming human. Tertullian and early Christian author held the view of traducianism, the soul was derived from the parents and generated in parallel with the generation of the physical body. In general, the soul was viewed as some kind of animating principle; and the human variety was referred to as the "rational soul." Some medieval Christian theologians held the belief that ensoulment occurs when an infant takes its first breath of air. They cite, among other passages, Genesis 2:7, which reads: "And the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul.
Immanuel Kant, "Man is distinguished above all animals by his self-consciousness, by which he is a "rational animal". "Man is a rational animal — so at least I have been told. Throughout a long life I have looked diligently for evidence in favor of this statement, but so far I have not had the good fortune to come across it". — Bertrand Russell |
We've sort of jumped away from the technical term for personhood to the logic behind this term and its use in describing the beginnings of life. If we accept the premise that life begins at conception then we must also believe that a logically thinking human has also developed, and this certainly would not be the case. This article is no so much about the beginnings of life, but humans and their ability to think rationally and logically with our understanding of our human history our evolutionary process and the science behind our existence as it relates to personhood. With this in mind the beginnings of personhood is that point at which you become logical, sensible, and rational with the ability to make responsible and knowledgeable decisions.
We live in a society and culture where we continue to see a complete lack of common sense, you can't go a day without seeing irrational behavior in the news and media and not a day without someone in a so called leadership position showing a complete lack of sensible reasoning. Common sense is lacking in just about every part of our society and as humans of supposed personhood we've allowed it to happen and continue to allow it to happen, even though it just proves the point of not evolving past neanderthal. Being a rational human is the view that reason is the chief source and test of knowledge or any view appealing to reason as a source of knowledge or justification.
empiricism is one of rationalism's greatest rivals. Although being rational and having common sense would seem to be enough for truth, we have those who feel unless it can be proven by science it can't be true.
There are many things that have been part of our cultures for centuries and over and over again through rational thinking and common sense have been proven wrong. But many continue to believe and will fight to the death over these beliefs. We must move past this senseless and destructive attitude in order for our species to continue to evolve. Keeping our heads stuck in the past simply because we refuse to accept the science is nothing more then being completely irrational, closed minded and lacking of all common sense.
Personhood in its simplest form is the status of being a person a human, someone part of society, responsible, rational with a minimum of common sense. To achieve this status means you must have been born and are a positive asset to society. Maybe we should put limits and requirements on who can become of legal personhood like we do with citizenship.
The article above was not meant to imply humans are not intelligent beings or that we haven't evolved, but simply in response to the term personhood and what it implies or doesn't. We don't and are not forming an opinion on abortion or when a child is considered personhood only that the term and the logic behind it is flawed and common sense would end the controversy or it should.
The book Moral Believing Animals by Christian Smith is available through Amazon, click on the image.
Author Christian Smith suggests that human beings have a peculiar set of capacities and proclivities that distinguishes them significantly from other animals on this planet. Despite the vast differences in humanity between cultures and across history, no matter how differently people narrate their lives and histories, there remains an underlying structure of human personhood that helps to order human culture, history, and narration.
Rationalists believe reality has an intrinsically logical structure. Because of this, rationalists argue that certain truths exist and that the intellect can directly grasp these truths. That is to say, rationalists assert that certain rational principles exist in logic and are so fundamentally true that denying them causes one to fall into delusion. Rationalists have such a high confidence in reason that proof and physical evidence are unnecessary to ascertain truth – in other words, there are significant ways in which our concepts and knowledge are gained independently of sense experience. Because of this belief,
There are many things that have been part of our cultures for centuries and over and over again through rational thinking and common sense have been proven wrong. But many continue to believe and will fight to the death over these beliefs. We must move past this senseless and destructive attitude in order for our species to continue to evolve. Keeping our heads stuck in the past simply because we refuse to accept the science is nothing more then being completely irrational, closed minded and lacking of all common sense.
Personhood in its simplest form is the status of being a person a human, someone part of society, responsible, rational with a minimum of common sense. To achieve this status means you must have been born and are a positive asset to society. Maybe we should put limits and requirements on who can become of legal personhood like we do with citizenship.
The article above was not meant to imply humans are not intelligent beings or that we haven't evolved, but simply in response to the term personhood and what it implies or doesn't. We don't and are not forming an opinion on abortion or when a child is considered personhood only that the term and the logic behind it is flawed and common sense would end the controversy or it should.
The book Moral Believing Animals by Christian Smith is available through Amazon, click on the image.
Author Christian Smith suggests that human beings have a peculiar set of capacities and proclivities that distinguishes them significantly from other animals on this planet. Despite the vast differences in humanity between cultures and across history, no matter how differently people narrate their lives and histories, there remains an underlying structure of human personhood that helps to order human culture, history, and narration.
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