Who deserves the rights of Personhood?
One view is that only humans can be persons because humanity is the basis of personhood. However, this view is implausible. There is nothing special about species in and of themselves. They are morally arbitrary taxonomic categories. There is a great deal of variability within species, similarity among species and change in species over time.
When we think about the basis of our own personhood, we do not think about how we happen to be classified in a biology textbook. Instead, we think about features of our lives such as conscious experience, emotionality, a sense of self and bonds of care and interdependence. When it comes to whether one should be treated as a person or a thing, these kinds of features, and not their genetic bases or evolutionary histories, are what matter. This is why we can all know that we have rights without having to check our genes.
By Jeff Sebo
Mr. Sebo is the director of the animal studies program at New York University.
Read the Article @ The New York Times