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characterizehumanbeingsrationallyinproperlynaturalisticterms,[6]
indeedinphysicalistones.[7]Whatisahumanbeingandwhat
isaperson?Ourresponsetosuchquestionsdependsmuchonjust
howweunderstandatleastfivecardinalterms.Thesetermsare
“naturalism,”“personhood,”“entities,”“essences,”andespecially
“relations.”[8]
1.CardinalTerms
Initially,wemayrelyontherecentversionsofauthoritative
contemporaryreferenceworks.Doingsowillenableustotakeallfive
centraltermsinratherstandardwaysandtherebyavoididiosyncratic
expressionsthataremostoftenmisleading.Butaswepursueour
inquiry,furtherreflectionwillrequireustorefinetheseinitial
understandingsofthecrucialterms.Whereverpossible,wewill
dosobycontinuingtorelyonstandardreferenceworksinboth
philosophyandotherareas.
Accordingly,wemayunderstandtheexpression“naturalism”here
asbothaphilosophicalviewofthingsandamoregeneralsympathetic
attitudetowardssuchaview.Thus,naturalismisthephilosophical
view,astherecenteditionofastandardEnglishlanguagephilosophy
referenceworkputsit,“thatultimatelynothingresistsexplanation
bythemethodscharacteristicofthenaturalsciences.Anaturalistwill
beopposed,forexample,to[thosewhoadvocate]mind-bodydualism,
sinceitleavesthementalsideofthingsoutsidetheexplanatorygrasp
ofbiologyorphysics.”[9]
Importantly,naturalismisnotonlyconceptuallydifferentfrom
physicalism;naturalismisalsonotidenticalwithmaterialism
either.[10]
MostEnglishlanguagephilosopherstodayunderstandthe
expression“personhood”standardlyas“theconditionorproperty
ofbeingaperson.”[11]Accordingly,personhoodcomprisesvarious
widelyacknowledgedcharacteristictraits.Forexample,traits
ofpersonhoodinclude“moralagency,reasonorrationality,language
