Toward a general theory of persons. |
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Authors: | A A Howsepian |
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Affiliation: | University of California, San Franciso--Fresno Medical Education Program, 2615 E. Clinton Avenue, Fresno, CA 93703, USA. |
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Abstract: | The fundamental question I consider is the following: What is it that makes one thing a person and another thing not? I do not provide a complete answer; rather I begin to develop a framework for answering the question. In this essay I do the following: (1) distinguish between the powers possessed by persons and the constitutions of persons, and propose some metaphysical conjectures concerning the relationship between persons' powers and their constitutions; (2) propose for Christians, as well as for others, an hylomorphic soul-body alternative to Cartesianism; (3) highlight some prominent differences between the nature of human persons to problems in biomedical ethics concerning the ontological and moral status of human embryos and of the comatose. |
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