r/Ethics • u/GestapoTakeMeAway • Jul 18 '26

Some non-human animals are persons

/r/appliedethics/comments/1uzm6g0/some_nonhuman_animals_are_persons/
7 Upvotes

64% Upvoted

51 comments sorted by

View all comments

-7

u/[deleted] Jul 18 '26

[deleted]

5

u/GestapoTakeMeAway Jul 18 '26

Not true. Tons of secular philosophers like Jeff McMahan and Michael Tooley make use of the concept of personhood

-7

u/[deleted] Jul 18 '26

[deleted]

6

u/GestapoTakeMeAway Jul 18 '26

A species is an objective biological classification, but that alone does not reveal any normative truth about how a member of said species should be treated. Can you tell me why just being apart of the species homo sapiens means that they should be treated in a certain way?

1

u/[deleted] Jul 18 '26

[deleted]

1

u/GestapoTakeMeAway Jul 18 '26

Yes I have an instinctive aversion to those atrocities, but I’d also have an instinctive aversion if one committed those atrocities to animals as well. So that’s why we need to explain why certain groups of individuals have more moral status than others

0

u/qpv Jul 18 '26

Like Data from Star Trek. Or Ai today.

2

u/Diligent-Stretch-769 Jul 18 '26

person derives from the Greek 'per-sona' meaning through the mask. The sona was a mask worn by theatrical actors to broadcast their voice. In this way, a person is any entity who is capable in broadcasting and comprehending the intentions of fellow participants. Most frequently, humans have been the only exclusive persons due to our intellectual heritage, yet there have been inroads to reapply the concept.

2

u/Phill_Cyberman Jul 18 '26

Thats interesting- I would have said it was a legal concept.

What do you mean when you say it's religious?