On seeing our selves and others as persons
| Abstract | Human beings may be the only organisms capable of thinking of self and other in equivalent ways – as selves and persons. Most organisms think about their own activities differently than they do the activities of others. A few large-brained organisms like chimps and dolphins sometimes think of the activities of self and other in the same way. But, only humans think quite generally in this manner. In this paper I give a description of our commonsense notions of self and person, and a scientific framework in which it can be fit. I then provide a phylo- and onto-genetic account of these concepts. Finally, I argue that the theory of reciprocal altruism provides the best account of why the notions of self and person evolved to have the form and function they do with respect to human social life and moral capacities. 2009 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. | |||||||||
| Keywords | No keywords specified (fix it) | |||||||||
| Categories | No categories specified (fix it) | |||||||||
| Options |
|
|||||||||
Download options| PhilPapers Archive |
Upload a copy of this paper Check publisher's policy on self-archival Papers currently archived: 5,679 |
| External links |
  Try with proxy. |
| Through your library | Only published papers are available at libraries |
Similar books and articlesRichard Stith (2004). The Priority Of Respect. International Philosophical Quarterly 44 (2):165-184.
Lynne Rudder Baker (2000). Persons and Bodies: A Constitution View. Cambridge University Press.
Christopher Tollefsen (2006). Persons in Time. American Catholic Philosophical Quarterly 80 (1):107-123.
Lynne Baker (2007). Persons and Other Things. Journal of Consciousness Studies 14 (s 5-6):17-36.
Alfonso Gómez-Lobo (2005). On Potentiality and Respect for Embryos: A Reply to Mary Mahowald. Theoretical Medicine and Bioethics 26 (2):105-110.
Eric Steinhart (2001). Persons Versus Brains: Biological Intelligence in Human Organisms. Biology and Philosophy 16 (1):3-27.
John Barresi (1999). On Becoming a Person. Philosophical Psychology 12 (1):79-98.
David B. Hershenov (2006). The Death of a Person. Journal of Medicine and Philosophy 31 (2):107 – 120.
P. J. Lomelino (2007). Individuals and Relational Beings. Social Philosophy Today 23:87-101.
Analytics
Monthly downloads |
Added to index2010-03-14Total downloads27 ( #45,781 of 549,087 )Recent downloads (6 months)1 ( #63,317 of 549,087 )How can I increase my downloads? |
My notes
Discussion
