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What is A Person? (Contemporary Issues in Biomedicine, Ethics, and Society)

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Michael F. Goodman, editor
What Is a Person?

(Clifton,New Jersey: Humana Press, 1988) 325 pages
(ISBN: 0-89603-117-9; hardcover)
(Library of Congress call number: BD450.W4873 1988)

A collection of 16 philosophers and other academics
address various aspects of the concept of personhood.
These thinkers did not break any new ground when they wrote their essays.
And these are mainly of historical interest now.
In those days, the beginning of human life
and when a human being becomes a person
were the major issues.
When does a fetus have enough self-consciousness
to have an interest in its own continuation?
How much freedom of will must an individual have to be a person?
The autonomous person can evaluate even his own wishes.
Does the future potential of a fetus give it the status of a person?

Daniel Dennett's chapter, "Conditions of Personhood" p. 145-167.

Dennett describes six interlocking conditions
that make human beings persons:
1. Rational beings.
2. Have intentional states of consciousness.
3. Are regarded as persons by others.
4. Capable of reciprocating with others.
5. Capable of verbal communication.
6. Self-conscious.

If you want to explore other definitions of personhood,
search the Internet for: "Personhood Bibliography".

James Leonard Park, existential philosopher and medical ethicist