The following is my current working definition of a person. I ask for comments from the students of my Ethics class (as well as anyone else who has suggestions) to see if it can be improved.

Definition of a Person

Person on the way

Something is defined as a person when it has all of the following characteristics:

1: it interacts with other individuals that consider themselves as individuals, and the type of individual each is, is viewed by each individual as defined by the other individuals. That is: they are individuals but are dependent on one another for their sense of what that means.

2: it is self-reflecting, or can be expected to become self-reflecting by the other individuals that actively define it as an individual.

3: it does what the others that define it consider appropriate to its position in its relationship to them, such that they can continue to define it as meeting the minimal characteristics a member of their combined, self-reflective interrelationship requires of each of them.

Something is defined as not a person when it has at least one of the following characteristics:

1: it is in intolerable pain that can not be alleviated without it being killed, that is "euthanized." In this situation, both it and others redefine it as not a person.

2: it is in an intolerable state due to pain, or emotional distress and kills itself, that is commits "suicide." In this situation, it redefines itself as not a person.

3: it is not worthy of the respect due to a person and does not act within the parameters a person is expected to follow but instead acts as a member of a parasitic organism on persons and should be killed to protect persons. In this situation, others redefine it as not a person and take violent action against some or all members of the parasitic organism.

4: it is not worthy of the respect due to a person because it does not act within the parameters a person is expected to follow but instead acts as a parasitic organism and should be killed to protect persons. In this situation, others redefine it as not a person and take violent action against it alone.

5: it is not worthy of the respect due to a person because it does not act within the parameters a person is expected to follow but instead acts as a parasitic organism endangering the life of a woman who is the host of the organism and should be killed to protect the life of the woman. In this situation, others redefine it as not a person and take violent action against it alone by aborting it.

6: it is not worthy of the respect due to a person because it does not act within the parameters a person is expected to follow but instead acts as member of a living organism that is not thriving, and the organism is not of sufficient value to the environment of persons to merit a person's assistance.

7: it is not worthy of the respect due to a person because it does not act within the parameters a person is expected to follow but instead acts as part of the environment that can be used as needed in support of a person's life.

8: it is not worthy of the respect due to a person because it does not act within the parameters a person is expected to follow but instead acts as part of the environment that is necessary for the sustainment of some person's life and must be maintained in the manner most productive to a person's purposes.

 
This page is maintained by William S. Jamison. It was last updated July 11, 2016. All links on these pages are either to open source or public domain materials or they are marked with the appropriate copyright information. I frequently check the links I have made to other web sites but each source is responsible for their own content.