FINAL PAPER Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

FINAL PAPER - Essay Example ating phenomenon to mankind, the very essence of our existence and the ability for an individual to ponder reflectively on his/her life has been a puzzle to all generations, the problems of identity exist because we exist, on the same concept, the problems emanate from our natural awareness and inquisitiveness, firstly, our identity is directly attached to our personhood, but the question arises, what is a person? The answer most probably must mention some several key activities like locomotion and reproduction, Locke argued that a person is an organism that possess mental capability, Descartes, in his famous quote, I think, therefore I am also directly mentions the faculty of thought, but the challenge arises when we cannot prove whether other ‘things’ have similar capabilities as we do, for example cattle that possess locomotive and reproduction abilities, another question ensues with this issue in that we must wonder- do these other ‘things’ think as we do? And if they do, do they possess an identity as we do. Computers are capable of doing analytical tasks at a speed faster than an individual-so, does it think? So with such matters, it is not a simple task to draw a line between a person and a non person. Besides, it is a reasonable question to ask oneself, when does one become a person, and what would cause him to cease to be? If a person is an organism that possesses mental capability, where do we classify the lunatic or a fetus? No wonder there have been very controversial debates on abortion as some perceive a fetus as a non person while others perceive a fetus as a living organism. The debate further boils to when does life (person) begin, at birth or during conception? Personhood therefore can be clearly defined especially after considering other intelligent animals and automated robots and that are capable of imitating almost everything that we can do, unless we accept the common definition that a person is a human being. This definition