Abstract: Concepts of personhood designate human, and increasingly nonhuman, animals in order to convey their moral status. They convey beliefs about the grounds of that status, and its import with regard to entitlements and responsibilities. Personhood is a contested category. In secular and religious ethics one finds disagreements over who or what qualifies as a person. Are all human beings persons at every stage of development and decline? Do nonhuman animals, corporations, or environmental systems count as persons? Scholarship on human sexuality, gender, and race also complicates accounts of personhood by questioning claims about “given” features of personhood. Other disciplines, like behavioral economics, challenge the coherence of agency that many accounts of personhood posit. This entry considers meanings and features of personhood, challenges to notions of personhood, and illustrative practical moral questions surrounding personhood.
Publication Year: 2022
Publication Date: 2022-06-20
Language: en
Type: other
Indexed In: ['crossref']
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