What is a Person? On Non-Human Persons and Alternative Beings

Essay from the year 2014 in the subject Philosophy - General Essays, Eras, grade: A, , language: English, abstract: It is a fundamental flaw of humanity to consider all of mankind equal and above every other species known to us. It is a flaw that we do not even recognise as a flaw. We go about our day-to-day business without a second thought about whether or not the man across the street is less or more of a person than ourselves. Nevertheless, this flaw exists. It is unfounded and irrational and yet influences almost all our judgments and decisions. Personhood is not a right of mankind. In fact personhood is not a right of any creature. In this essay I explore how we can decide how to award personhood and to whom.