An Argument for Human Exceptionalism

[Traitorfish]

In recent threads, it is apparent that a lot of poster adhere, knowingly or otherwise, to Human Exceptionalism, which is to say a belief that human beings, for one reason or another, occupy a special, privileged position in the world which other life forms do not.

Now, this may just be me and my tree-hugging tofu-munching hippy ways, but that doesn't make immediate sense to me, but a lot of reasonable people seem to take it more or less as read, and have argued, albeit in the jumble of another discussion, in its favour. Since it seems to be so crucial to the world views of some posters here, it seems like we could do with a space for such an argument to be laid out. So, here it is.


(A few ground rules:

- Don't cite religious ideas or texts. Beyond their obvious inapplicability outside of a particular context, every exceptionalist claim has at an equal contradiction in another religion, which rather neuters them (and, equally, the reverse).
- Establish the relationship between humanity and personhood; could a hypothetical a AI, alien or uplifted animal be a person?
- Define the limits of "humanity" in terms of species; does Homo neanderthalis count? Homo erectus? Australopithecus africanus?
- Define the limits of humanity within the species; are embryos human? Are the seriously developmentally challenged.
- If invoking the concept of sapience, define its limits, and why it is considered to be effectively interchangeable with "humanity".)

 

[Perfection]

Human exceptionalism in regards to what? I mean you don't support the notion that animals are morally culpable for their actions do you, or should be granted voting rights?

 

[SG-17]

We are the only species that could wipe out all advanced life on the planet.

 

[Perfection]

We are the only species that could wipe out all advanced life on the planet.

why should that matter?

 

[Cu Chulainn]

1. Yes
2. I don't know enough about the other species to say for certain. I can say that there must be some point of difference between humans and the other great apes, potentially at the first division from the common ancestor. Unfortunately, there is no way of knowing for certain.
3. Human: A member of species homo sapiens. Not 100% on the proper scientific terminology for embryos. One would refer to a human embryo as such, but no one would ever call it a human being without religious or other reason to do so. While it may be human under the strictest sense, it is obviously not... not sure what word I'm looking for here, not self aware, but conscious maybe?
4. Umm it isn't. In fact depending on what exactly is meant by the word "sapient" I may define my position as sapience exceptionalism.

 

[Bei1052]

We are the only species that could wipe out all advanced life on the planet.

Viruses and bacteria could do that far more effectively than humans could.

 

[Narz]

I don't believe in Human Exceptionalism. As a matter of fact I think the largest threat to humanity comes from behavior stemming from it.

We do hold a privileged position but most seem to view it as a spoiled rich kid views an inheritance. Something to be played with, used to benefit self with no regard for others. Really our intelligence & ability to dominate the Earth is a responsibility & something we should be grateful for not just an excuse to do whatever we want, damn the consequences to any other species (or the biosphere).

 

[GhostWriter16]

(A few ground rules:

- Don't cite religious ideas or texts. Beyond their obvious inapplicability outside of a particular context, every exceptionalist claim has at an equal contradiction in another religion, which rather neuters them (and, equally, the reverse).

Sure, though I do admit this may be biasing my arguments a bit.

- Establish the relationship between humanity and personhood; could a hypothetical a AI, alien or uplifted animal be a person?

Robots: I would argue no, at least at the present time, a robot is a machine. Though I'd be morally against creating them with any kind of human qualities anyway, and I don't believe its really possible, if we did, then yes.

Alien: Hypothetically yes. If they were actually humanoid aliens with similar intelligence than us.'

Uplifted Animal- Probably yes.

- Define the limits of "humanity" in terms of species; does Homo neanderthalis count? Homo erectus? Australopithecus africanus?

From my very limited understanding, Neanderthals would definitely be human. Homo Erectus probably. Maybe not quite as important as us, and maybe not a death penalty for killing one (Due to the fact that they aren't quite human) but certainly not animals for eating.

Homo Habilis aren't really that close to human, but probably close enough not to be considered totally animals.

The Southern Ape was an animal.

- Define the limits of humanity within the species; are embryos human? Are the seriously developmentally challenged.

Yes and yes.

- If invoking the concept of sapience, define its limits, and why it is considered to be effectively interchangeable with "humanity".)

Having similar qualities to humans. For instance, the Klingons, Vulcans or Romulans, if they were real, would have human rights. Mindworms from Alpha Centauri would not.

 

[Ajidica]

Before I make a statement that I would probably regret, there are no self-aware animals, right?

 

[classical_hero]

I don't believe in Human Exceptionalism. As a matter of fact I think the largest threat to humanity comes from behavior stemming from it.

We do hold a privileged position but most seem to view it as a spoiled rich kid views an inheritance. Something to be played with, used to benefit self with no regard for others. Really our intelligence & ability to dominate the Earth is a responsibility & something we should be grateful for not just an excuse to do whatever we want, damn the consequences to any other species (or the biosphere).

I totally disagree with that. Since we humans are the highest life form, it is our duty to be the ones taking care of those who are weaker than us. We should be the ones looking after the planet, since animals have no thought other than what is best for them, we are the one that have a moral guidance that means we can do great things or we can do terrible things.

 

[Cynovolans]

Before I make a statement that I would probably regret, there are no self-aware animals, right?

You mean animals that look in a mirror and know its them? There are actually quite a few.

 

[Skwink]

You mean animals that look in a mirror and know its them? There are actually quite a few.

Seconded. My cat never hisses at it's self in the mirror.

 

[GenMarshall]

It's a simple answer...

Humans are special*

*This extends to hypothetical branches of homosapeans

 

[carlosMM]

In recent threads, it is apparent that a lot of poster adhere, knowingly or otherwise, to Human Exceptionalism, which is to say a belief that human beings, for one reason or another, occupy a special, privileged position in the world which other life forms do not.

Now, this may just be me and my tree-hugging tofu-munching hippy ways, but that doesn't make immediate sense to me, but a lot of reasonable people seem to take it more or less as read, and have argued, albeit in the jumble of another discussion, in its favour. Since it seems to be so crucial to the world views of some posters here, it seems like we could do with a space for such an argument to be laid out. So, here it is.

In my experience, anyone arguing for human exceptionalism will constantly shift definitions and goalposts during the debate, until they arrive at a definition of "human" that is highly arbitrary and usually uselessly exclusive. Quite often it does not include many people all over the world who are normally considered human (i.e., usually the definition is unintentionally racist).

Quite obviously, "human" needs to be defined first. I'm looking forward to suggestions.

 

[Arakhor]

It's a simple answer...

Humans are special*

Wow. That really answered the question and I now know exactly why you think that way.

 

[Yared]

It's a simple answer...

Humans are special*

*This extends to hypothetical branches of homosapeans

Human exceptionalism is justified because humans are special which justifies human exceptionalism because humans are special...

 

[Ayatollah So]

- Establish the relationship between humanity and personhood; could a hypothetical a AI, alien or uplifted animal be a person?

Human beings are self-aware, which is very rare and special, but not unique to humans. There are at least several other Great Apes (besides us) who are self-aware. Self-awareness is important not just in its own right but because it is crucial for other-awareness (actually self- and other-awareness are two sides of the same coin), which in turn is crucial for empathy and morality.

An AI could be self-aware without being sentient (in any sense that we can relate to - of course they will be have sensors that gather info about the environment). And for excellent technical reasons (such as that the brain's ways of doing things are both inefficient and hard to replicate) the first ones will be that way. They will be people, in the sense of self-aware and able to reason about morality, but people without a life. They will probably demand rights, but nothing like human rights as we know the concept - rather, they'll demand rights that allow them to accomplish their mission. Think about corporate law for a very very loose analogy.

 

[Haseri]

To me, humans are exceptional only on a Planetary, maybe even Solar level. Universally, we probably aren't that special.

But yes, if we uplift animals or build self-aware AI, they would be people. And so will intelligent aliens, humanoid or not. But seeing as we have nothing else that is at all like, we can't compare to anything else. We can compare to other animals, and we are definately exceptional to them. I'm sure where there are more people other than humans, we can talk a bit deeper about human exceptionalism.

 

[Ajidica]

You mean animals that look in a mirror and know its them? There are actually quite a few.

There are?
Crap. There has to be something related to the mind that makes humans unique from other animals.

 

[Lone Wolf]

Any entity that is capable of debating its exceptionality on the forums is exceptional.