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Old 05-23-2007, 02:13 AM   #26 (permalink)
cyklone
Crazy
 
Location: Adelaide, South Australia
The philosophical community defines a difference between being a human and being a "person" which would be useful to this discussion. A person may have all those qualities which you define as human but not be genetically human eg. an enhanced animal, alien or artificial intelligence. A human must be genetically human, but may not be or may no longer be a person, eg. someone suffering severe alzheimer's or someone so mentally deficit that they cannot function or meaningfully interact.
Personally I've met people who could be defined genetically as human but I would prefer to disown them and called them barely qualified as a person (politicians??) and I have met animals (my dog), who could almost qualify as a gentle person.
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