Philosophy Dictionary of ArgumentsHome
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| Person, philosophy: A thinking and sentient being that distinguishes itself from others. In the course of the history of philosophy, further determinations have been agreed on or disregarded, e.g. rationality, autonomy, not-being-able-to-be-possessed. While the human and his body age, the person has no temporal stages. See also individual, law, continuants, identity._____________Annotation: The above characterizations of concepts are neither definitions nor exhausting presentations of problems related to them. Instead, they are intended to give a short introduction to the contributions below. – Lexicon of Arguments. | |||
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Stephen Jay Gould on Person - Dictionary of Arguments
IV 64 Person/individual/organism/nature/Gould: coral reefs, for example, are accumulations of millions of tiny organisms. Every polyp is a complete living being. Some jellyfish (e. g. the Portuguese galley) are colonies of several people (tentacles). Each tentacle is initially created as a separate person. These have different functions. IV 71 Paradox: the differentiation into individual persons (swimming, catching, protection, eating etc. functions) is correct in terms of evolution. They developed from simpler aggregations of independent organisms, each of which is relatively complete and can assume almost all functions. (As with today's corals.) But the colony is so integrated that the whole thing can only be considered as a single person! Although each individual person has his or her own nervous system, all of them are connected by a common nerve strand. >Evolution, >Explanation, Paradox: in terms of evolution it is a colony, but in terms of its current function it is more of an organism. IV 72 Th. H. Huxley: Huxley triggered the debate and argued for a single organism.(1) IV 73 Haeckel: for artistic reasons, Haeckel often overemphasized symmetry.(2) Syphonophores (jellyfish) develop from a single egg! IV 75 E. g. bamboo wood: bamboo may be traceable to a single seed, but each budded stem is considered an individual. They are genetically identical copies. Are they connected underground? And are they above ground now individual or part? There is no clear answer here. Continuum/Gould: nature has created a continuum from the individual to the colony. Ants/Gould: in ants, we still choose the single organism, although some natural scientist consider it to be a super organism. IV 77 E. g. aphids: all members of a clone are female. The entire offspring is absolutely identical. Is this clone an aggregation of independent individuals, or an evolutionary body? IV 78 Criteria of spatial separation and function do not apply here. The question is asked wrongly. 1. Th. H. Huxley (1849). The oceanic Hydrozog observed during the voyage of HMS "Rattlesnake" in the years 1846-1850. London: The Ray society. 2. Ernst Haeckel (1888). Report on the Siphonophorae collected by HMS Challenger during the years 1873-1876. Voyage of HMS Challenge, Zoology, Vol. 28._____________Explanation of symbols: Roman numerals indicate the source, arabic numerals indicate the page number. The corresponding books are indicated on the right hand side. ((s)…): Comment by the sender of the contribution. Translations: Dictionary of Arguments The note [Concept/Author], [Author1]Vs[Author2] or [Author]Vs[term] resp. "problem:"/"solution:", "old:"/"new:" and "thesis:" is an addition from the Dictionary of Arguments. If a German edition is specified, the page numbers refer to this edition. |
Gould I Stephen Jay Gould The Panda’s Thumb. More Reflections in Natural History, New York 1980 German Edition: Der Daumen des Panda Frankfurt 2009 Gould II Stephen Jay Gould Hen’s Teeth and Horse’s Toes. Further Reflections in Natural History, New York 1983 German Edition: Wie das Zebra zu seinen Streifen kommt Frankfurt 1991 Gould III Stephen Jay Gould Full House. The Spread of Excellence from Plato to Darwin, New York 1996 German Edition: Illusion Fortschritt Frankfurt 2004 Gould IV Stephen Jay Gould The Flamingo’s Smile. Reflections in Natural History, New York 1985 German Edition: Das Lächeln des Flamingos Basel 1989 |
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Ed. Martin Schulz, access date 2024-04-27