Open AccessThe Debate on the Concept of the Person in Bioethics
Author(s) -
Grzegorz Hołub
Publication year - 2020
Publication title -
studia ecologiae et bioethicae
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
eISSN - 2719-826X
pISSN - 1733-1218
DOI - 10.21697/seb.2020.18.5.11
Subject(s) - subjectivity , epistemology , naturalism , bioethics , embodied cognition , philosophical anthropology , dualism , sociology , perspective (graphical) , psychology , social psychology , philosophy , computer science , political science , artificial intelligence , law
This article endeavours to sketch the debate about the concept of a person in the realm of bioethics. Initially, it sets out three understandings of the issue, namely the concept of a person in naturalistic philosophy, in the current of communitarianism and in one of the humanistic positions. The analysis of these approaches lead to the conclusion that a human person is perceived either as an empirical and psychological entity or as a free subjectivity creating him/herself. This thesis provides stimulation for further research. In order to avoid a kind of dualism in the perception of a person stemming from the stances outlined above, the personalistic approach is developed. This points out that a human being should be depicted as one indivisible entity unifying in itself more strictly its self, a subjective aspect of the person, with nature-body aspect which is an objective facet of being human. Given this personalistic perspective, a person comes out as an embodied subjectivity formed by the unique personal act of existence. In this article, such a concept of a person is argued as a vital support in the complex field of bioethical dilemmas.