Is a Dolphin a Person?

In the article, ''Is a Dolphin a Person?'' by Mary Midgley, she argues that a “person” should be qualified by their capacity to emotionally connect with other people, not by their intellectual capacity.  Midgley focuses on dolphins, discussing how they are more capable of these connections than other animals.  She makes the argument of how we define a ''person''. We define a ''person'' as someone who is capable of making choices and therefore deserves respect.  As she states in the reading, ''for the word does not in origin mean 'human being' or anything like it'' (227).  Midgley references the Kantian principle stating, “It is the idea of a rational being, capable of choice and therefore endowed with dignity, worthy of respect, having rights…” (227) This further establishes her argument that what is considered to be a ‘person’ is not defined by their appearance or intelligence, but by how they are able to emotionally connect with other living things.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rynvewVe21Y

By: Iris Tran

Ellie Cao