HS 2610: FINAL Exam Questions with
Guaranteed Pass Solutions 2025-2026
Updated.
why is the definition of personhood so important - Answer 1. For abortion: the status of the
fetus is critical
2. For end-of-life scenarios: when - if ever - does one lose personhood?
3. For our treatment of other creatures - are higher order mammals "people
uncontroversial - Answer - 'normal' adult human beings (capable, autonomous)
more controversial - Answer - Fetuses, infants, children
- Animals
- Mentally disabled, severely physically disabled
- Alzheimer's patients
- Robots, artificial intelligence, computers
douglas - Answer sex robots
humanity - Answer - Is the biological category from which personhood is derived
- e.g. "a bipedal primate mammal (Homo sapiens)"
personhood - Answer - is a legal status, not a biological one
- a person is not a thing
- a person has rights and responsibilities, endowed with dignity, deserving respect
historical overview of personhood - Answer - aristotle
- john locke
- descartes
- ancient Greece
- renaissance
aristole on personhood - Answer thought that there were four varieties of "soul" and that
only humans had all four, but lesser creatures (intelligent mammals) had three, but plants had
only one
,john locke (1632-1704) - Answer suggested that a "person" was a being capable of following
laws, and feel both happiness and misery
descartes - Answer believed that since humans were the only creatures to contemplate their
souls and not be slaves to their physical needs, that humans were the highest form of being (the
equivalent of our 'personhood')
personhood as a matter of voting - Answer Ancient Greece, only citizens could vote (non-
citizens were lower forms of life - working class, or slaves).
renaissance - Answer - the exercise of reason was the mark of a higher degree of human (the
origin of personhood?)
mary wollstonecraft - a vindication of the rights of women - Answer - The response was that
why not give the vote to chimps? Women were too emotional and tied to hormonal to be
rational, so in that regard, they weren't people.
- Women weren't legally recognized as people in Canada until 1929.
US Supreme court Scott vs. Standord (1857) - Answer decreed that freed black slaves weren't
legally people, thus recognizing their human form (biological) but still denying them their rights
as people.
different perspective on personhood - Answer 1. Religious
2. "from reason"
3. "from biological sciences"
religious - Answer - religions have different views about "when" personhood starts
("ensoulment")
- 40 days, 120 days, conception, among many others
- Once personhood has been reached, many religions don't believe you ever lose it - brain
damage, or terminal illnesses are also from God, and should be met to demonstrate dignity, not
to be halted.
from reason - Answer - philosophers of the Renaissance
- the main distinction between men and non-men was their intellectual activity
- men shared behaviour with animals: procreative, excretory, physiological systems
- but the superior minds of men made them better
- so to be a person, you had to be able to exercise reason (the highest form of intellect)
, - You could be a man, but lacking reason made you "mad" (insane) and thus subhuman and
institutionalized.
Five Typical Traits of Personhood - According to Philosopher Mary Anne Warren (1973) - Answer
1. Consciousness - capacity to feel pain
2. Reasoning - the developed capacity to solve new and relatively complex problems)
3. Self-Monitored Activity - activity which is relatively independent of either genetic or direct
external control
4. The capacity to communicate
5. The presence of self-concepts and self-awareness
from biological sciences - Answer - This is where the future challenges to personhood will
come from:
- The emphasis is on finding traits of fetuses or comatose people that are similar to 'persons'
examples:
1.) music appreciation by fetuses
2.) cognitive abilities of the comatose
music appreciation by fetuses - Answer - They have reactions to music
- Play music audible within the women to see if the fetus would react (different types of music,
what would make this more reactive)
- Fetuses loved Kenny rogers, did not like Michael Jackson (stagnate reaction)
- Can we get to the point where we can actually communicate
cognitive abilities of the comatose - Answer - Before > don't really treat them as anything
were told that they couldn't hear you etc.
- Trying to see if they can introduce stimuli > will brain react the same way if were able to
indicate it
- Even in long term coma > have lots of mental activity (reactions to jokes, etc.)
- Brain is able to respond
- They are still able to make decision > must decide how to communicate (how does approval vs.
disapproval look like in the brain)
So, you work definition of personhood would have to provide answers for the following: -
Answer 1. Abortion (when does personhood start)
2. Euthanasia (when does personhood end)
3. Animal rights (who should be included in personhood... only humans?)
Guaranteed Pass Solutions 2025-2026
Updated.
why is the definition of personhood so important - Answer 1. For abortion: the status of the
fetus is critical
2. For end-of-life scenarios: when - if ever - does one lose personhood?
3. For our treatment of other creatures - are higher order mammals "people
uncontroversial - Answer - 'normal' adult human beings (capable, autonomous)
more controversial - Answer - Fetuses, infants, children
- Animals
- Mentally disabled, severely physically disabled
- Alzheimer's patients
- Robots, artificial intelligence, computers
douglas - Answer sex robots
humanity - Answer - Is the biological category from which personhood is derived
- e.g. "a bipedal primate mammal (Homo sapiens)"
personhood - Answer - is a legal status, not a biological one
- a person is not a thing
- a person has rights and responsibilities, endowed with dignity, deserving respect
historical overview of personhood - Answer - aristotle
- john locke
- descartes
- ancient Greece
- renaissance
aristole on personhood - Answer thought that there were four varieties of "soul" and that
only humans had all four, but lesser creatures (intelligent mammals) had three, but plants had
only one
,john locke (1632-1704) - Answer suggested that a "person" was a being capable of following
laws, and feel both happiness and misery
descartes - Answer believed that since humans were the only creatures to contemplate their
souls and not be slaves to their physical needs, that humans were the highest form of being (the
equivalent of our 'personhood')
personhood as a matter of voting - Answer Ancient Greece, only citizens could vote (non-
citizens were lower forms of life - working class, or slaves).
renaissance - Answer - the exercise of reason was the mark of a higher degree of human (the
origin of personhood?)
mary wollstonecraft - a vindication of the rights of women - Answer - The response was that
why not give the vote to chimps? Women were too emotional and tied to hormonal to be
rational, so in that regard, they weren't people.
- Women weren't legally recognized as people in Canada until 1929.
US Supreme court Scott vs. Standord (1857) - Answer decreed that freed black slaves weren't
legally people, thus recognizing their human form (biological) but still denying them their rights
as people.
different perspective on personhood - Answer 1. Religious
2. "from reason"
3. "from biological sciences"
religious - Answer - religions have different views about "when" personhood starts
("ensoulment")
- 40 days, 120 days, conception, among many others
- Once personhood has been reached, many religions don't believe you ever lose it - brain
damage, or terminal illnesses are also from God, and should be met to demonstrate dignity, not
to be halted.
from reason - Answer - philosophers of the Renaissance
- the main distinction between men and non-men was their intellectual activity
- men shared behaviour with animals: procreative, excretory, physiological systems
- but the superior minds of men made them better
- so to be a person, you had to be able to exercise reason (the highest form of intellect)
, - You could be a man, but lacking reason made you "mad" (insane) and thus subhuman and
institutionalized.
Five Typical Traits of Personhood - According to Philosopher Mary Anne Warren (1973) - Answer
1. Consciousness - capacity to feel pain
2. Reasoning - the developed capacity to solve new and relatively complex problems)
3. Self-Monitored Activity - activity which is relatively independent of either genetic or direct
external control
4. The capacity to communicate
5. The presence of self-concepts and self-awareness
from biological sciences - Answer - This is where the future challenges to personhood will
come from:
- The emphasis is on finding traits of fetuses or comatose people that are similar to 'persons'
examples:
1.) music appreciation by fetuses
2.) cognitive abilities of the comatose
music appreciation by fetuses - Answer - They have reactions to music
- Play music audible within the women to see if the fetus would react (different types of music,
what would make this more reactive)
- Fetuses loved Kenny rogers, did not like Michael Jackson (stagnate reaction)
- Can we get to the point where we can actually communicate
cognitive abilities of the comatose - Answer - Before > don't really treat them as anything
were told that they couldn't hear you etc.
- Trying to see if they can introduce stimuli > will brain react the same way if were able to
indicate it
- Even in long term coma > have lots of mental activity (reactions to jokes, etc.)
- Brain is able to respond
- They are still able to make decision > must decide how to communicate (how does approval vs.
disapproval look like in the brain)
So, you work definition of personhood would have to provide answers for the following: -
Answer 1. Abortion (when does personhood start)
2. Euthanasia (when does personhood end)
3. Animal rights (who should be included in personhood... only humans?)
