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What is a Human Being?
Unless you’re in a debate about abortion, you probably don’t ask yourself this question very often.
The answer to what is a human being is “Duh, I’m human.”
Except it’s not actually as straightforward a question as we think.
Biologically, What is Human?
The pat answer is “A member of species homo sapiens.” So, were Neanderthals human?
There’s still argument amongst scientists about whether Neanderthals and Denisovans were subspecies of Homo sapiens, or whether they should be considered species within the genus Homo.
By the older definition of species which precludes interbreeding to create fertile offspring…but by that definition all canines on the planet are one species.
The fact is that species is highly arbitrary. And also, we call anything in genus Canis a dog.
So, I would argue that anything in genus Homo is a human. Chimps, thus, are not human because they are in genus Pan. Humans are apes, not all apes are human. However, the great apes are part of family Hominidae, as are we. Do we expand “human” out that far?
Most people, looking at a gorilla or an orang utan would say “Probably not.”