We are faced with this simple question, but an integral part of Metaphysics is what is "personhood"? In other words, what are the criteria that must exist in order for an entity to be considered a person? To make a long discussion short we came up with several ideas to consider:
- physical body
- emotional presence
- thinking intellect
- ability to interact with others
- ability to consider others and to realize that others consider us
A short list yes, but this is the essence of the discussion. You will discover as we move through Metaphysics that many philosophers who have gone before you have weighed in on the matter and in each case they have done what we did today, namely:
1. Identify the issue (in this case "personhood")
2. Identify criteria that must be considered in the discussion (see brief list above)
3. Consider each criteria and how much merit it deserves in the discussion. For example a person might be kept alive in a hospital bed with intensive medical intervention but they are clinically brain dead. So how much a part of the person does the brain and its function constitute? and the list of questions continues.
We also discussed "Self" in our introduction to Metaphysics today. Again we came up with a list of criteria that must be considered and weighed. One of the most interesting is the idea of "identity." You are all in an intensive process of discovering and creating your own personal identity in adolescence which is independent (at least much more independent) from the caregivers who have gotten you this far. I discussed the Johari Window as a good starting point including four distinct criteria to consider - here's one link to the Johari Window for you to consider. I wrote this out on the board but said I would post a link so you can study it yourself.
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