What constitutes a human being?

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What structure, capacity, function or anything else constitutes a human being rather than a human animal?

I’ll explain.
If conjoined twins are joined together at the hip, nearly everyone would say that’s two people. What about when there’s two heads sharing one body? Is that two people?

Does everyone here accept that brain stem death is death? That the person is dead?
 
Doc_Keele said:
What structure, capacity, function or anything else constitutes a human being rather than a human animal?

I’ll explain.
If conjoined twins are joined together at the hip, nearly everyone would say that’s two people. What about when there’s two heads sharing one body? Is that two people?

Does everyone here accept that brain stem death is death? That the person is dead?
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The human, created in the image an likeness of God is composed of a body and a soul. What distinguished the human from other animate, mobile creatures is the immortal soul that has the aspects of intellect and will.

I don’t know what a “human animal” is. How is it distinguishes from a “human being”?

A person is dead when the soul leaves the body.
 
davidv said:
The human, created in the image an likeness of God is composed of a body and a soul. What distinguished the human from other animate, mobile creatures is the immortal soul that has the aspects of intellect and will.

I don’t know what a “human animal” is. How is it distinguishes from a “human being”?
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How are you defining a human being? Any human tissue?
A person is dead when the soul leaves the body.
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Right…
how do we work out when the soul has left the body? Is the body lighter?
 
"Davidv:
I don’t know what a “human animal” is. How is it distinguished from a “human being”?
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Doc Keele said:
How are you defining a human being? Any human tissue?

Right…
how do we work out when the soul has left the body? Is the body lighter?
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This doesn’t answer my question.
 
It’s kind of the point of the thread, davidv. What makes a human being a human being rather than just another animal?
 
Yes. I’m a bit confused as well by the being/animal distinction, Doc. Are you trying to distinguish personhood from humanhood, or a human self from the human form?
 
=Doc Keele;6388131]What structure, capacity, function or anything else constitutes a human being rather than a human animal?
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I’ll explain.
If conjoined twins are joined together at the hip, nearly everyone would say that’s two people. What about when there’s two heads sharing one body? Is that two people?
Click to expand...
Does everyone here accept that brain stem death is death? That the person is dead?
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YES:

Mind, intellect, freewill and soul are unique, God given Spiritual attributes.
 
Put it another way, is all human tissue a human being?
This is one reason why I brought the issue of conjoined twins, as this is will bring out some of the issues of particular definitions of human being.
 
Doc_Keele said:
What structure, capacity, function or anything else constitutes a human being rather than a human animal??
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Human being and human animal are identities.
Doc_Keele said:
I’ll explain.
If conjoined twins are joined together at the hip, nearly everyone would say that’s two people. What about when there’s two heads sharing one body? Is that two people??
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Certainly if they argue … or agree.
Doc_Keele said:
Does everyone here accept that brain stem death is death? That the person is dead?
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No, I don’t.
 
Doc_Keele said:
It’s kind of the point of the thread, davidv. What makes a human being a human being rather than just another animal?
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See post #2. An immortal soul, with an intellect and a will.

Animals have a mortal soul.
Animals do not have a will.
 
davidv said:
See post #2. An immortal soul, with an intellect and a will.

Animals have a mortal soul.
Animals do not have a will.
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Animals have a will.
So do you identify all human tissue as a human being?
 
Multiple personality disorder poses another interesting problem, of course.
 
Great question! An article that I found helpful (and from a more philosophical perspective)…follow the link and let me know what you think of it and if it helped you at all.catholiceducation.org/articles/abortion/ab0045.html

Though it relates directly to questions around abortion I also think it sheds some light on your question…I could be mistaken.
 
davidv said:
What kind of will does an animal have and how do you know its the same as human will.

Are you putting words in my mouth?
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Animals clearly have a will. What about the human will are you getting at?
I’m certainly not putting words in your mouth, I’m trying to find out your position without resort to the unknowable like the existence of the human soul.
 
Doc_Keele said:
Put it another way, is all human tissue a human being?
…
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All living human tissue is a human, literally being. At death, non-human being occurs for the body; spiritual being continues. We Americans call the corpse “the remains” implying something else retaining existence has left.
 
I really wouldn’t say that all living human tissue is a human being, o-mlly. I mean, a beating heart, existing outside of the body is living human tissue, but it’s certainly not a human being.
 
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