Are Animals People?

    If all of the criteria for personhood are not met, that does not mean the person or thing in question is not a person.  The criteria for personhood, with characteristics such as sentience, emotion, and reasoning is based on human characteristics and is thus a biased perspective. It is difficult to hold other animals to the same standards as humans. In addition, a person legally is something or someone who has rights, whether that be a human, non-human organism or non-living thing.

Credit. zh.wikipedia.org

    The rights of persons outweigh the rights of non-persons if it comes to a conflict. However, as stated before the definition of "person" is difficult to judge. A key part of the classification is the sentience of persons, which corresponds to the way in which questions related to their rights affect them. 

Credit: ThoughtCo

    I would count humans, comatose humans, rocks, trees and the earth as persons. Although they do not necessarily fit the philosophical criteria of "personhood," I believe they are deserving of rights and respect whether as living things, parts of nature or other and therefore are persons.

    As I have gotten older I have usually tried to prevent harm to animals when possible. However, I am biased, because this line is blurred for some animals that cause harm or inconvenience.

Additional information and research: The Moral Status of Animals (Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy)

Are animals persons? (wellbeingintlstudiesrepository.org)



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