what it means to be human

What makes a person human? What are the characteristics of being human? How does one define the word humanity? These are all questions that are involved in the philosophical question; what makes us human? Some believe being human is just your physical state, animals are animals and humans are humans, they believe there is nothing more to it. Although they are right in the literal sense, I believe that  having human characteristics is all about your values.

          Humans have certain inevitable elements that make them human, such as empathic response or being indifferent to suffering, aversion to ugliness, dignity, free will and sympathy. No matter how hard one tries to hide these characteristics, as a human we all feel them.  All of these things play a role in our every day lives whether we realize it or not. When a brave couragous woman named ingrid betancourt was captured and treated as an animal in a forest, she noticed all of these elements in the people surrouding her whether they were the guards or her friends who have been kidnapped.

          In my opinion, being human is all about your morals and your ability to feel emotions towards other people. As long as one never forgets others, and respects others as much as possible, then they have human characteristics. Being dehumanized is when you lose everything that makes you feel for others and begin to only think about yourself and your own survival. 

         People believe that if you are born and taught to have all these values and morals, you will always have them. Sadly, sometimes this isn't the case. When put in desperate situations, some people can snap and forget the part of them that is human as Ingrid said she did for a while during her captivity. As long as you are not put under extreme circumstances, as long as you keep your humanity you will be able to get through anything. 

what does it mean to be human?

rationalism vs. empiricism!

"What do you rely on most for knowing what is true -reason or experience? “ 

What first came to mind when I took the time to think about whether I rely more on reason or experience was that I rely on experience. Just as John Locke said, “when we are born, our minds are like a blank slates”, if you haven’t tried something for yourself, how can you formulate an opinion on it? On the other hand, Plato’s theory that some knowledge is innate also has some truth to it. I wouldn’t put my hand on a stove just to experience for myself that it isn’t a pleasant feeling. No wonder this subject has been troubling philosophers for centuries. Although my initial thoughts were that I rely on experience, maybe a mix between experiences and reason is what we all rely on for knowing what is true. 

I am not a rationalist or an empiricist; I rely on both experience and reason in order to decide whether something is true. I lye somewhere between the two, but probably leaning more towards empiricism than being a rationalist because no matter what we are discussing, everybody will always have different opinions on whether or not something is right. No one can see something in the same way as another person. For example, if two people are looking at the same painting, they will not interpret it in the same way. One person may say it’s beautiful whereas the other may not see the beauty or will find a different kind of beauty. You can never rely on someone else’s opinion; you need to form your own. Obviously there are exceptions to this when it comes to something that can harm you. If someone tells you its wrong to kill someone without a reason, I’m sure we can all agree with that. That’s where my rationalist side kicks in.

Generally speaking, I am the kind of person who always needs proof before believing something or someone. If I haven’t seen it or experienced then how can I believe it? That last statement makes it sound as if I support Humes’ theory that we only know what’s wrong or right from experience and evidence. But although I’d like to establish a permanent position on this controversial topic, Plato also has a point that some things are just common sense.