I have never thought about a formal definition of death before this assignment. The thought of death elicits, in me, a mental depiction of a cold, lifeless corpse, without a heartbeat. It wasn’t until I really dug into my past that I realized I have been given different definitions of the word death. Being raised in a Christian home I was taught two different definitions of death, physical and spiritual. And upon my arrival in college my view on death began to shift to a more biological definition. Defining death is an important key to understanding how I view personhood.
Every Sunday morning my family and I would dress in the best clothes we had and would attend church. As I sat in the pew I remember the pastor explaining the two types of …show more content…
The reason I think this is because after all vital activity has ceased the soul leaves the body and a body without a soul is dead. I believe that every human being that has ever existed has a soul and is considered a person. On the flip side is Empirical Functionalism. Most philosophers believe that what constitutes personhood is a set of abilities or functions. Some of these functions or abilities include higher brain functions, ability to relate to others, and self-awareness. Now with this definition people with a mental illness, elderly, infants, and people sleeping no longer qualify as a person. Empirical Functionalism detonates the definition of a person to what abilities they offer to the world. I don’t see how this can be true since I have met children with a mental illness, and I know they are not worthless to the society. They just contribute in a different way. My cousin adopted two kids from Russia and later learned that they were suffering from ADHD. He later explained how this was a blessing in disguise. Not only are there successful doctors, artist, actors, entrepreneurs, etc. with ADHD, but the children also impact their parents. My cousin and his wife learned to push themselves and learn about the mental illness and how to help, brought the couple closer together, gave hope to other parents with the same situation, greater compassion and patience, and how to push your children and
Every Sunday morning my family and I would dress in the best clothes we had and would attend church. As I sat in the pew I remember the pastor explaining the two types of …show more content…
The reason I think this is because after all vital activity has ceased the soul leaves the body and a body without a soul is dead. I believe that every human being that has ever existed has a soul and is considered a person. On the flip side is Empirical Functionalism. Most philosophers believe that what constitutes personhood is a set of abilities or functions. Some of these functions or abilities include higher brain functions, ability to relate to others, and self-awareness. Now with this definition people with a mental illness, elderly, infants, and people sleeping no longer qualify as a person. Empirical Functionalism detonates the definition of a person to what abilities they offer to the world. I don’t see how this can be true since I have met children with a mental illness, and I know they are not worthless to the society. They just contribute in a different way. My cousin adopted two kids from Russia and later learned that they were suffering from ADHD. He later explained how this was a blessing in disguise. Not only are there successful doctors, artist, actors, entrepreneurs, etc. with ADHD, but the children also impact their parents. My cousin and his wife learned to push themselves and learn about the mental illness and how to help, brought the couple closer together, gave hope to other parents with the same situation, greater compassion and patience, and how to push your children and