Defining Human

[PHSshamrock]

Is “a rational animal” really a good definition of the human being? How does this include people with mental handicaps, etc.? What would be a good definition of human beings?

 

[davidv]

Is “a rational animal” really a good definition of the human being?

Probably not.

How does this include people with mental handicaps, etc.?

One reason the above is not a good defintion.

What would be a good definition of human beings?

From the Catechism of the Catholic Church:

362 The human person, created in the image of God, is a being at once corporeal and spiritual. The biblical account expresses this reality in symbolic language when it affirms that "then the LORD God formed man of dust from the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living being."229 Man, whole and entire, is therefore *willed *by God.

 

[Skye_Ariel]

Is “a rational animal” really a good definition of the human being? How does this include people with mental handicaps, etc.? What would be a good definition of human beings?

Someone with a spirit and soul. Mentally handicapped and all other disabilities and deformities are all still human. They are just as human as the rest of us, I don’t care if they are born in a vegetative state and live that way their whole life. They still have the spirit breath of life God breathed into humanity.

 

[bzkoss236]

In terms of secular definitions, human being (or just human) is a biological definition, the same type of definition as cat, dog, or bird would define those creatures. The definition of person, or what constitutes personhood, is what people are really debating about. Some people are trying to say that it is okay to kill a human as long as it’s not a person (used in support of abortion, euthanasia, and the like). Their definition of person being a human with cognitive abilities (being able to think).

In Christian terms, a human is a creature with an immortal and rational soul. It seems in our case, having an immortal and rational soul is what constitutes personhood with the soul being the constructor of our thoughts.

 

[Doxus]

Don’t worry guys. Taxonomists already did the hard work for you.

Biota [all life on Earth, including precellular life]
Clade - Cytota [all cellular life; LUCA, Prokarya, Bacteria]
Clade - Neomura [like Archaea, also included, oldest neomura, common ancestor with them]
Domain - Eukarya [like Bikonta, also included, oldest eukaryotes, common ancestor with them; cellular nucleus; first eukaryotic multicellular organisms; plants]
Clade - Unikonta [only one flagellum; like Amoebozoa, also included, common ancestor with them]
Clade - Opisthokonta [like Fungi, also included, oldest opisthokonts, common ancestor with them]
Clade - Holozoa
Clade - Filozoa
Kingdom - Animalia/Metazoa
Subkingdom - Eumetazoa [remotest origin of animal motility]
Clade - Bilateria [having bilateral symmetry]
Clade - Coelomata [Animals with body cavities]
Superphylum - Deuterostomia [anus gets formed first, and mouth gets formed opposedly and after]

Phylum - Chordata
Clade - Craniata [animals with skulls]
Subphylum - Vertebrata ...and backbones]
Infraphylum - Gnathostomata...and jaws]
Clade - Teleostomi
Clade - Euteleostomi
Superclass - Osteichthyes
Class - Sarcopterygii [Includes lobe-finned fish and all land vertebrates.]
Infraclass - Tetrapodomorpha
Superclass - Tetrapoda ...and four limbs for terrestrial locomotion]
Clade - Amniota ...and amniotic eggs ("terrestrial" eggs)]
Subclass - Synapsida
Order - Therapsida
Clade - Theriodontia
Suborder - Cynodontia
Clade - Epicynodontia
Infraorder - Eucynodontia
Clade - Probainognathia
Clade - Chiniquodontoidea
Clade - Mamaliamorpha
Clade - Mammaliaformes

Class - Mammalia [all mammals]
Subclass - Theriiformes
Infraclass - Holotheria
Superlegion - Trechnotheria
Legion - Cladotheria
Sublegion - Zatheria
Infralegion - Tribosphenida
Supercohort - Theria
Cohort - Eutheria
Magnorder - Boreoeutheria
Superorder - Euarchontoglires
Grandorder - Euarchonta
Epiorder - Primatomorpha

Order - Primates [arboreal prehensile locomotion; terrestrial bipedal leaping in some cases; Strepsirrhini, Prosimians, also included, oldest living primates, common ancestor with them]
Suborder - Haplorrhini [anthropoidea; like Tarsiiformes, also included, oldest living haplorrhini, common ancestor with them]
Infraorder - Simiiformes [earliest documented tool ethology; like Platyrrhini, American Monkeys, also included, oldest living simiiformes; monkeys and apes included here]
Parvorder - Catarrhini [land extended locomotion; like Cercopithecoidea, Old World Monkeys, also included, oldest living ones]
Superfamily - Hominoidea [tail loss, arboreal locomotion reduced to forelimbs (Brachiation); apes, lesser apes, hominoids; like Hylobatidae, Gibbons, also included, oldest living ones]

Species - Proconsul africanus

Family - Hominidae [great apes, hominids; fist-walking; family with Ponginae, Orangutans, also included, oldest living ones, common ancestor with them]
Subfamily - Homininae [or hominines; knuckle-walking; includes gorillas but not orangutans]

Species - Pierolapithecus catalaunicus

Tribe - Hominini [or hominins; includes chimpanzees but not gorillas]

Species - Sahelanthropus tchadensis, possible common ancestor with chimpanzees[citation needed]
Species - Orrorin tugenensis, may be an early species after split with chimpanzees[citation needed]

Subtribe - Hominina [or hominans; orthograde (upright) bipedalism; humans are the only surviving species]

Genus - Ardipithecus [Human lineage]
Genus - Kenyanthropus
Genus - Australopithecus [Human lineage; made tools found]

Genus - Homo [or humans; specific and specialized development of memory/learning/teaching/learning application (learning driven ethology)]

Species - Homo habilis [refined stone technology; earliest fire control]
Species - Homo ergaster [extensive language, complex articulate language]
Species - Homo erectus [fire control, cooking; aesthetic/artistic refinement of tools]
Species - Homo heidelbergensis [possible earliest sanitary burial of dead, accompanied with symbolic/formal supplement]

Species - Homo sapiens [further development and specialization of learning application; active environment transformation, acclimatization and control; infrastructures and advanced technology]

Subspecies - Homo sapiens idaltu

Subspecies - Homo sapiens sapiens

 

[po18guy]

“Made in the image and likeness of God.”