Kant & The Human Subject

Discussion of articles that appear in the magazine.

Moderators: AMod, iMod

Post Reply
Philosophy Now
Posts: 1205
Joined: Sun Aug 29, 2010 8:49 am

Kant & The Human Subject

Post by Philosophy Now »

Brian Morris compares the ways Kant’s question “What is the human being?” has been answered by philosophers and anthropologists.

https://philosophynow.org/issues/123/Kant_and_The_Human_Subject
WynnSchwartz
Posts: 1
Joined: Fri Nov 17, 2017 4:01 pm

Re: Kant & The Human Subject

Post by WynnSchwartz »

What is a person and how can we be sure?

Sometime in the mid 1960’s, NASA asked the Descriptive Psychologist, Peter Ossorio, “If green gas on the moon speaks to an astronaut, how do we know whether or not it is a person?”. Note that simply asking this question acknowledges the possibility of a person who does not share human embodiment. So how can we sort out what constitutes a person if we allow that the category is not based only on having a particular body? One method is the use of Paradigm Case Formulations as presented at the Yale Personhood Beyond Human Conference. Here's the one I developed:

A Person is an individual whose history is, paradigmatically, a history of deliberate action in a dramaturgical pattern. Deliberate Action is a form of behavior in which a person (a) engages in an Intentional or Goal Directed Action, (b) is Cognizant of that, and (c) has Chosen to do that. A person is not always engaged in a deliberate action but has the ability to do so.

Language and any evidence of ethical or aesthetic acts are good evidence.

Should you be interested: http://freedomliberationreaction.blogsp ... erson.html
Post Reply