personhood
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This is a term used by some philosophers to describe what characteristics make a 'person'. They argue that not all human beings are persons - rather that any higher animal with the right set of characteristics might be considered to have personhood. Does this attitude to humanity fit with Christian thinking?
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cmf file 46 (2011) - regarding the image (CMF files)
Audrey is unconscious following a stroke. Her doctors have said there is little chance of her recovering and she is unable to communicate with her family. She has lost many of her critical faculties, so to what extent does her life still have value? - Over the past fifty years there has been an...
what does it mean to be human? (nucleus - summer 2010)
Jo Lovell considers an age-old question - Everyone would recognise Michelangelo's painting of a naked man (Adam) lounging on the ground, pointing towards a figure sitting in the sky (God) who points back to the man. The painting can be found on the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel in the Vatican City...
Growing up well (triple helix - autumn 2007)
Key points - The author weaves together three strands. She describes recent scientific evidence for neuroplasticity, and explains how the genetic blueprint (nature) interacts with the psychosocial imprint (nurture) to form the personality. Attachment failures, compounded in lone parent families,...
CMF File 31 (2006) - Transhumanism (CMF files)
Previously the domain of science fiction authors, the integration of technological aids into the human body is becoming a reality. Transhumanists claim that this will develop so far that we create cyborgs, beings that are part human – part machine. They believe that we face a future where humans...
Straw Dogs - Thoughts on humans and other animals (Book Review) (triple helix - winter 2005)
Straw Dogs - Thoughts on humans and other animals - John Gray - Granta 2002 - £8.99 Pb 246pp - ISBN 1 86207 596 4 - We have become used to modernism, and got the hang of postmodernism but what comes next? Perhaps post-humanism? Christians and humanists mostly get along. We share a broadly similar...
File 26 (2004) - Speciesism (CMF files)
It might seem self-evident that human beings are superior to animals, but some people now claim that this idea is a form of blatant discrimination to excuse our abuse of animals, and that we should condemn it as speciesism. Christians, however, maintain that, while animals have value, human beings...
Being Me – what it means to be human (Book Review) (triple helix - spring 2004)
Being Me – what it means to be human - Pete Moore - Wiley 2003 - £16.99 Pb 277pp - ISBN 0 47085 088 4 - 'What does it mean to be human?' is a question that has been asked throughout the ages, and definitions are difficult to find. As Pete Moore recognises, 'Any approach to define who I am is doomed...
What is a Person? (nucleus - spring 2004)
John Wyatt explores a fundamental ethical concept - What does it mean to be a person? Is it possible to be a human being but not a person? What duties do we owe to persons as opposed to non-persons? These sound like the abstruse musings of philosophers light years away from the practical issues of...