Re: [APD] goldfish...ect.

["S. Hieber" <shieber at yahoo_com>]

Stating a functional (as opposed to, say, genetic) 
description that categorically includes all and only living
humans has been a transaction with a lot of bounced checks.
I think every single attempted categorical distinction has
fallen prey to counterexample. The distinctions so far have
turned out to be of degree and not categorical. Unless one
gets very specific, say, only organic assemblage that uses
APD, but then one tends to go to far, lots of things we'd
be tempted to call human and persons don't use APD.

Many animals communicate with sounds or bodily "signs".
Some even commuincate with some humans that way.

More than one or two or three kinds of animals use tools
and some, besides human make tools.

So called "lower" animals such as dogs have been
demonstrate to exhibit second-order intentions (thoughts
about one's own thoughts or another's thoughts).

This doesn't mean that the search for a categorical
distincyion cannot continue.

The genetic distinction is ineffective for categorically
distinguishing persons from nonpersons because of several
problems. One of them is that one can apply the genetic
disction on if one is willing to disallow the logical
possiblity of persons with diff genetic make-up -- perhaps
a form of interstellar racism.

The law and most conversation rarely deals with such
abstract conceptually analyzed points -- it cuts the
discourse short with the legislation or a ruling of
judicial interpretation or religious tenet -- it's more the
realm of discourse in academic philosophy departments.
However, some of them are relevent and have been raised in
certain popular ethical discourses concerning, for example,
abortion of pregnancy in Homo sapiens: is being a human
organism enough to grant all rights of personhood. An issue
no less settled today for all its enduring controversy and
examination.

sh

--- Derek Parr <derekparr at earthlink_net> wrote:

> Jerry Baker wrote:
> > We are trying to come up with something that completely
> and totally 
> > separates humans from other animals . . . 
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