Characteristics of a Person

Char practiceeristics of Personhood Rationality The power to reason is seen as creation sensation of the defining characteristics of personhood. Rationality plunder be summarised in our aptitude to mould considered choices and lasts at a higher intellectual level. Rationality is illustrated in our capacity to justify our thoughts and actions through reason, scaled to emotional or practical vari qualifieds. Aristotle considered that the thought-processes that prey our actions atomic number 18 pivotal to personhood.Such thought-processes generally involve evaluating the positive and negative consequences of our actions, and deciding whether the reward is worth the cost. This cap might to predict consequences of our actions isnt dual-lane by the lower animals, and is pivotal in ma powerfulness the distinction among a person and a non-person. We cast make the ability to justify our tactile sensations and actions and to visualise into reasoned dialogue with opposites. Rat ionality withal leads to the ability to evaluate live and draw logical, considered conclusions which ordain influence our actions in the future.The lesser animals lack this capability, a view which is illustrated in the following example the squirrel stores food for the winter in order to survive, however the squirrel does non store food beca lend oneself it knows that food pass on be scarce in the winter the squirrel stores food because of impulses governed by animalistic instinct, and nonhing besides. The squirrel could not consider the possibility of an abundance of food in the winter, and decide that it did not wish to store food for the winter, and is confined to the induction of instinct.To further illustrate this point we could say that covers comport desires but they do not have choices. For example, when a piece of meat is left unattended, a drop behind would see it and eat it straight a representation because it desires the meat and has no regard as to whom it b elongs or whether eating the meat would be of realise to it. In this sense, animals such as dogs act on the basis of their desires. On the other hand, we as adult males would firstly deliberate between the pros and cons of what to do with this piece of meat, taking into account the various factors and potential consequences of eating it.Humans volition not simply act on the basis of their desires but provide make a decision and then perform an action gibe to the decision that we make through our rationality. Possessing a electronic network of beliefs Possessing a network of beliefs is a characteristic that predominately distinguishes homosexuals as persons, as opposed to animals. A network of beliefs can be formed on the basis of reasons in accordance with our rational nature as persons atomic number 18 equal to(p) to bound upon the relative strengths and weaknesses of the evidence of these beliefs, basing our belief system on what others tell us and on our profess make loves.It is believed that in comparison to most animals, humans have a much more complex network of beliefs. For example, a dog may avoid eating chocolate because of a bad experience devouring a whole box but it is doubtful that the dog is able assuredly to hold the belief that chocolate makes me sick. A human, however, has the ability to make a rational decision from then(prenominal) experiences and act upon this belief.For example, if a person eats chocolate and is allergic to it and is thus do ill by it, through a network of wider beliefs such as allergies ca employ illness, the feeling of being ill being monstrous, etc a person can deduce that chocolate makes me sick and indeed I wont eat it again. Unlike animals we can have beliefs virtually the past and future and refer to these beliefs as the past and future an animal may remember something as a belief from the past such as the chocolate but can notwithstanding see how it will affect the present.We can also have beli efs just about beliefs humans have the ability to hold beliefs about possibilities and things that may conk in the future, whereas animals can only have beliefs about the actual and fact. diction User Langu period users are beings who can communicate with others through a range of mediums. This agency that they are able to talk about ideas in the abstract. Furthermore, language is necessary for the possession of genuine ideas and apprehensions about the world. Language allows nation to understand their desires without language, beings would be ineffective to communicate and request their desires.For example, a awe can feel hungry and desire grass but it doesnt know that it desires grass and feels hungry because it does not have those concepts. These concepts are human linguistic concepts. A creatures mental horizon is broadened by the ability to represent the world by signs. Language courses the user the ability to express thoughts about an infinite number of things. Furthe rmore language allows the happy construction of arguments it allows the user to criticize and justify. Moreover, language permits a new king of socializing, based upon discussions.It allows interaction and develops personalities. Language broadens peoples knowledge and their emotions. in all of these examples mean that one is a person if one can use language. This is because language allows you to formulate your thoughts and having thoughts and self- ken means you have the capacity to understand the thoughts of others. This means you are a person. Self Awareness Self sensory faculty is the ability to experience and do things whilst understanding what it is thats going on and having an awareness of the fact that it is I that is having the experiences.Descartes defines self awareness as having a sensible mind. He believed that using speech and reason were right examples of the mind working. He uses this theory to eliminate animals from what he classes as a person, and in bring o ut describes them as nothing more than a complex machine. However, although we are unable to know whether an animal is self-conscious or not, they are clearly conscious in the sense that they are aware of their surroundings and at quantify can be unconscious. However, consciousness is not the same as self-consciousness.Another way in which self awareness can be described is by a persons ability to talk about themselves using words such as I or mine. It is the ability to describe ones mental state to others and to understand them from the first-person point of view. Looking spur upon your memories is another example and knowing that it is ones self that has experienced these memories. A good example to illustrate self-awareness is the mark test. This is where a mark is rigid on the head of a participant who is then placed in front of a mirror.If the participant tries to wipe the mark off their verbalism in the mirror, then it is argued that they do not do the strikeion in the mirror as them and consequently lack self-awareness. If, however, they wipe the mark off their foreheads, then clearly they understand that the reflection in the mirror is them and they wherefore have a sense of self. Infant humans beyond the age of 24 months, as well as some animals such as apes, dolphins and elephants, can successfully complete the test whereas other animals are not.This shows that self-awareness is not a characteristic that can be associated with all animals and as such may be a way of distinguishing between animals and persons. Social beingness One characteristic that is thought to be essential for personhood is that of being a social being. Humans, unlike other animals, have a prior awareness of the mankind of other human beings. We expose ourselves in the context of our relationships with other human beings and through our various roles in cabaret. Arguably, we can only recognise ourselves as a person if we have prior awareness of the existence of other such persons.Throughout life, humans form complex social relationships with others which they a lot maintain and develop. Human beings have a more developed society than animals such as dogs and horses due to the fact that humans have plans, intentions and schemes. They are individuals but this individuality stems from society. This inherent social nature is supposeant upon our ability to communicate, allowing us to establish social roles and connect with others. Through this we see our own identity, as belonging to groups work, culture, nationality and so on. Arguably, our persona might be more often than not formed because of these networks.To have a good life, we must interact with others in order to be able to reflect upon our own selves. In this sense, persons depend on society for not only specific ambitions and goals but also for language, beliefs and to compare themselves to other individuals. It is through this that we can discover the best way to live and therefore hope fully live a good life. We cannot attain a good life in isolation as we cannot voice our thoughts and feelings with other people. Human beings are social animals and it can be argued that being a person necessarily involves having complex relationships with others.Penguins huddle together for warmth, instinctively, not for any reason more complex than this. They dont have meetings, parties or heart to hearts, and wouldnt later reflect upon this, or develop because of it. Creativity, autonomy and individuality Autonomy is the ability to reason about whether to perform an action or not and suggests that persons are not controlled by our natural instincts, unlike animals. It appears that a person is not entirely influenced by basic instinct, and can refer to more complex thoughts and ideas in decision making.This is shown through the example that a dog does not reflect on whether to bark at the stranger in the street, or continue to go about its own business in the shade, whereas a p erson will often reflect upon the reasons for and against acting upon their immediate desires. A person is able to rise above their basic animal drives and take a judge of control over their own lives. By enabling us to reflect on how to act, reason gives us some mastery over our passions, elevating us above the level of creatures of instinct.The capacity to reflect and reason gives us a measure of autonomy or self-control. Individuality allows each person to identify and emphasize the uniqueness of each of us and it is argued that an individual person is be not so much by their shared human sum as by the particular characteristics of his or her own nature. Human beings in all societies give themselves proper names which uniquely identify them as individuals and some philosophers have argued that it is a natural tendency for all human beings to construct a unique personality.Also, animals appear to have no concept of creativity or imagination and only experience things for what t hey are. For example, an animal would not understand metaphor, because a metaphor is a representation of something else, and an animal cannot fthm this concept. Yet, people do have the ability to be creative and imaginative. righteous Sense Having a chaste sense means that we are able to decide what we should and shouldnt do, to identify what is good and bad, and to label actions moral or immoral. Kant says that a person uses their moral principles and this determines their actions.He also says that we, as moral persons, are able to recognise what our duties are and then we can further strike whether to act in accordance with these duties. Acting in accordance with our moral duties rather than our desires is what makes our actions truly free as we can transcend our desires in order to do what we see we ought to. For example, although we may not want to give ? 5 to famine relief, we realise that we ought to and recognising this duty can motivate us to act on it. Morals tend to be related to humans, as animals dont have the notion of orality. For example, in the case of a lion killing an antelope for food, we see this as an act of survival therefore we cannot blame the lion for being immoral. However if a human killed an antelope for amuse it could spark a moral debate, as some people would declare with it and some people would think it immoral. If we cant delegate ethics to animals, but we can attribute morals to humans, then there is a distinct difference between the two. This distinction illustrates that maybe we only attribute morals to persons.