Person

Person

A person is a being that has certain capacities or attributes such as reason, morality, consciousness or self-consciousness, and being a part of a culturally established form of social relations such as kinship, ownership of property, or legal responsibility. The defining features of personhood and consequently what makes a person count as a person differ widely among cultures and contexts.

Etymology

The term person comes from the Latin word persona, which originally referred to a theatrical mask worn by performers in order to either project different roles or disguise their identities.

Concepts of Personhood

Different cultures and legal systems have different definitions and concepts of personhood. In many societies, a person is an individual human. However, personhood can sometimes be attributed to non-human entities, like animals or artificial intelligence.

Legal Personhood

In law, a legal person is any entity that can bear legal rights and obligations. This can include natural persons (human beings), as well as corporate persons (corporations or companies).

Philosophical Personhood

In philosophy, the concept of personhood is about the unique characteristics that make a being count as a person. This can involve questions of consciousness, morality, and rationality.

See Also

• Human
• Individual
• Self (psychology)
• Identity (social science)