Webster's dictionary defines human as 'human 1. Of or characteristic of man || being a person || of people as limited creatures, human failings || resembling man 2. A person'; Of course there is more to being human than that. A concise yet broad definition of human would be any man, woman, child, etc. on this earth. To be human means that you can read this paper. It means that you don't have to worry you are resting comfortable at the top of the food chain.
There are many ways that humans are different from other animals and I have picked what I believe to be the greatest differences of all. A main difference is self-awareness, or the knowledge that we exist by living and dying. Since we know that we will die sooner or later we take care of those who may not be able to take care of themselves to prolong the life if the ones that we love. Another thing that self-awareness dose for us is that it makes us search for meaning in life and get the most out of it before we leave this physical plane.
That lead's us to religion, one of the other things that separate us from animals. All most all humans have a religion that believes in an after life. Some believe in rebirth where you never die but keep living in different states on the earth. In all most all religions there is a superior being or superior beings, that concept is similar to the way our government works.
There are primitive animal concepts that show traces of government, such as the almighty wolf that appoints an alpha pair similar to a king and queen to make the best decisions for the survival of the pack. Humans appoint government to prevent chaos from killing us off. Even though our government is far far far from perfect there is still a sense of security that you have someone semi-responsible leading parts of humanity to a better future.
Physically, humans consist of muscle, bones, blood, cells, but how do we really classify what makes a human a human? What if someday a scientific finding occurs and we learn that we can move a person's brain to another person's body, or into an robot. Are they still the same person or even a person? Opposite sides would say no, because the flesh is not the same or even there at all, but those sides are forgetting all the memories that the brain possess.If a person is aware of their conscious and unconscious minds, they are human.
What does it mean to be human? To most people it means being high on the food chain; or having the ability to make our own choices. People everywhere have a few things in common: We all must obey Natural laws, and we have preconceived ideas, stereotypes, and double standards. Being human is simply conveyed as human nature in “The Cold Equations”, by Tom Godwin, where the author shows the common ground that makes each and every one of us human.
In the early text of the Hindu tradition, the Veda, everything evolved around sacrifice. As a means of acquiring something, the elite class would make sacrifices to their gods in order to obtain the things they so desperately needed. An example of this would be the slaughtering of an animal to the gods in exchange for a sufficient rainy season during harvest time. The essence of what it is to be a human being in the Hindu tradition comes from a later text known as the Upanishads. This text did not focus on sacrifice rituals, but instead focused on the quest for knowledge. In the Upanishads the life of the Hindu is a spiritual pursuit that prepares one for the cycle of rebirth known as samsara. Hindus consider the body to be only a place to keep the soul. After watching Professor Anne Monius lecture on Hinduism and reading the book Hinduism A Very Short Introduction by Kim Knott, in the Hindu tradition, to be a “human being” means living one’s life according to a moral tradition which is based on the persons social and religious duty, known as dharma (Knott, 1998).
In order to define personhood, one must first define a human. A Human can be thought about in two different senses, a moral human sense and a genetic human sense. In a moral sense, humans can be thought of as a person who is a member of the moral community. In a genetic sense, humans are merely any physical being categorized as a being in the human species. From this one can conclude that a person is a human in the moral sense. Furthermore, characteristics of a person must be defined in order to differentiate moral beings from genetic humans.
The book, Humanism: A Very Short Introduction, most definitely gives a clear and precise understanding of what exactly Humanism is and consists of. There are several different meanings behind the term and it means more than a person’s opinion on whether or not God truly exists. Humanists are very open-minded and believe that science and reasoning are tools that should be used to evaluate the human lifestyle. The history of humanism dates back to Ancient Greece and the days of Confucius who believed in the Golden Rule which is well known as being, “Do not unto another that you would not have him do unto you” (Law, 9). It appears ironic that both religious groups and humanists embrace such rule. In the beginning of the book, the author gives seven characteristics to help the reader better understand what humanism actually is.
To be human is to be able think and learn without any restraints. To have an opinion all to one's self even if it my clash with someone else's. To be human is to have emotion. One must be able to smile, cry, laugh or shout without living in fear of the consequence. One must also have the feelings of love and hate. To be human, one would also be able to have a religion. Instilled morals and values are also a part of be human. Where one gets these values are from their families and friends, without those, a person would simply be an empty shell.
From all existing creatures, we humans differ because we are able to use our brain to make decisions. In
Humans are members of the Earth's community of life in the same sense and on the same terms as other living things.
The question: What does it mean to be human, is a centuries-old debate that is still relevant today. In A Discourse on the Origin of Inequality, Rousseau argues that inequality has no connection with the true state of human nature because humans are essentially animals with the ability to act by freedom. Similarly, in The Origin of Species and The Descent of Man, Darwin states that humans are biologically animals but with moral and social qualities, hence proving his claim that species are not created but rather they evolve gradually with the help of natural selection. In The Communist Manifesto and The Economics and Philosophic Manuscripts of 1844, Marx believes that human nature is a function of labour and in an unstable capitalist society,
What does it mean to be human? Is it the millions of cells that you’re composed of? Or is it something more? In George Orwell’s book 1984, through the use of his protagonist, Orwell looks at what it really means to be human. In a world that is built on destruction and manipulation, Orwell takes a look at how a totalitarian government affects humankind and a person’s ability to stay “human”.
What does it mean to be human? Sure, one must have the usual physical features such as fingers, eyes, arms, hands, feet, etc., but what does it really mean? Must the human be able to speak? To take upon the actions of themselves? Whatever it means, it can be interpreted in any way from anyone. The physical attributes of any human can be compared to those of our evolutionary ancestors. However, it is possible to believe that there are many characteristics that make a human, but only six define the true, ideal human.
This is cited in Aristotle, The Politics Book 1 Part 1, 1253a1, pg.59: “Hence it is evident that the state is a creation of nature, and that man is by nature a political animal.” This argument is somewhat logical because our skilful deployment of reason enables us to comprehend concepts such as justice and injustice, dubbing us political animals. As political animals, this higher level thinking would inevitably ensue into the creation of a political society and political rule. This is because we are naturally hierarchical (Aristotle, The Politics, Book 1 Part 2, 1252a24, pg.56). In a political society, there would naturally be a hierarchy of power, with a sovereign at the top to govern the populace. A sovereign is needed, to keep order and peace within the population; otherwise, there would be a state of chaos. If what Aristotle says is correct, that we are all political animals, then it would be logical that the establishment of political rule would naturally ensue. However, this is not the case. As discussed above, man is not a political animal but an individual only concerned with survival. On the other hand, if the concept of mastery over animals (e.g. ox plow farms) and master and slaves were established, what would be stopping mankind from creating the concept of sovereignty? Following this logic, a
If you were to look at what makes us human from a purely physical perspective you would be looking at everything that was empirical about a human being. This category could be divided into two sections: the first would be the actual appearance of human beings and the second would be the genetic make-up. Basically it would be made up of what you can see at first glance and what you could see at an even closer glance. The physical perspective can be summarised as the things one can see about human beings. Some appearance traits that make us human are quite obvious; nimble hands, soft skin and bipedal. Others are not quite so obvious from first glance such as a large brain (Cartmill & Brown, 2012). If we were to list every single thing that made us look human it would take quite some time. This is the most obvious thing that makes us human, the way we look.
Initially the answer may seem simple. One might say when comparing animals to humans that they are cruder than humans; they live their life by instinct, they don't love, they don't strive to educate themselves and each other - their overriding goal is to survive and make it through the day. Yet, human history and the scientific evidence tracing our human linage back to some ape-like predecessor proves that humans (well, their ancestors) most likely lived that same existence - scavenging for food and looking for a safe and warm place to sleep - subsistence. Hence, it must be something else that separates us from the animals.
Humans may be one of the most complex species on this earth thus far. We are the only known species who contemplates their existence so deeply and writes novels worth of work on it. But what exactly does it mean to be a human and how is our humanness defined? For centuries philosophers have written countless works on what they believe makes a person truly humane and how we differentiate between those who are “bad” and those who are “good” humans. In a world that is so subjective and that has so many opinions, routes, and options this may be one of the hardest concepts to define.