Looking suffiently like is completely subjective. If I see something and I feel it is human, then it is... this is my criterion.Originally posted by: complich8
The problem with the "everything that looks sufficiently like" idea is twofold: first, people can fall outside the bounds of "sufficiently like". People with deformities, or people who have hereditary traits that fall outside the bounds (such as the family in mexico that has a body hair condition that basically covers them all with thicker hair than any other humans have). Further, an embryo doesn't look much like a human, does it?
not true...animals can plan. Chimps do build tools, and there is this one gorilla that was chatting on the internet (which requires to think of something, and then find the way to express it, and go through that)
Will isn't just saying "I want". Will is essentially the ability to implement physical things using conscious mental processes. A good example of this would be if I decide to build a shed. I consciously decide this, I deliberately plan it (where it's going to be, how big it's going to be), and I use my deliberate, conscious plan to somehow bring about a physical object corresponding to it (in other words, I build a shed).
This conscious process of implementing ideas in the physical world is will, and is something that things that aren't human don't possess as far as we know (ie: animals can build things, but don't consciously plan them -- that is, mere instinct is not will).
Yea, and I am certain that everyone here believes that a 2 months old (born) baby IS human
You're correct though, in that will may not be a very good criterion for evaluating humanity in the context of abortion, because of another question: Do infants have will? Or is it something that's developed over time?
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