Quote:
Originally Posted by u wan buy dvd?
Every single one of us is a person yet none of us can pinpoint, or even articulate in anything but the most vague terms, what makes us so. That tells me that it is not terribly meaningful or relevant in our lives. Much smarter people than ourselves have been debating the issue for millenniums. That tells me that we wouldn't do much better of a job than our ancestors, even if it was relevant and meaningful.
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1. Yes, we can pinpoint what makes us a 'person.' Our personhood, or what makes us 'us' is defined by higher brain function. This is also the legal definition of personhood per the US Supreme Court. The only thing that we're not able to 'pinpoint' is the exact moment, and that's because every fetus develops differently. The best we can do is a very near guess.
2. Of course we are better able to answer than those who lived 'milennia before' we did. We have better information. It makes no difference whether or not those people were 'much smarter.' They did not have access to the advanced scientific methods and technology we have at our disposal.
3. 'Personhood' is meaningful on many levels, most notably legal and medical.