Unit 1 Essay Am I Human? This essay is an investigation into the concept of human to animal metamorphosis and hybridisation.

This essay will address the matter from the perspective of what it is to be human. The sources used in this essay will consist of extracts from the 'Book of Genesis' in the Bible (NIV). This will give us a differentiation between man and beast and give a definition of Humanity. Then to explore the topic in more depth a counter argument will be drawn by David Chronenberg's The Fly (1986) to ask the question from another perspective. These two sources will be the main points of reference that will be used, beginning with Creation to define humanity and the reasons for the definition. Then moving on to the 1980's film in order to give rise to a question of what appears to be a hole in the fore mentioned definition. From there both arguments will be fleshed out respectively. Finally a conclusion will be drawn with a summary of the arguments and the final verdict. Humanity. Its a word that carries a lot of weight. The second definition of the word humanity is the state of being a person rather than a god, an animal or a machine. - Oxford Advanced learners dictionary. The definition is a very good one and this gives us a wonderful vantage point. The point of what it is to be human has been argued throughout the nations throughout the ages; what is it to be human? Is it to be humanoid having hands and feet? Is it to think and question your being and origin? Are we just molecules in motion? Or is it the sole being in creation to have a soul? These are all well thought though and well-argued claims. So what is the truth? In this current day and age we are told that we are soulless molecules in motion and that our only meaning in life is the reproduce and die. This, fortunately, is not a view that everybody shares and the first point of reference that will be disclosed in this paper will be from the Bible, Genesis 1:27 to be precise. Now there are many other points that can be quoted from this wonderful book on this topic but as this isnt the subject basis well only use Gen 1:26 and 27. Then God said, Let us make mankind in our image, in our likeness so that they may rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky, over the livestock and all the wild animals, and over all the creatures that move along the ground. Genesis 1:26 And: So God created mankind in his own image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them. Genesis 1:27 This gives a good definition of what set mankind apart from the animals. This would give the argument that in because we are made in Gods image we are set apart from the animals of the world. Now heres the problem. Now heres the problem. What if youre not entirely human?

David Chronenburgs the Fly gives a very interesting twist in the subject. The film questions where you draw the line because throughout the film there is a slow degeneration of the characters form to a point of being completely unrecognisable. This is because hes genes have been spliced from a molecular level. The physical form denies human status and slowly his mind is leaving him. So similar to the zombie argument, when does he Image 1: Film Still stop being human? You can say at the point that he left the pod or the point his skin begins to melt away. This argument would say that death of human cells is the death of his humanity. Another perspective would give rise to the chance that it is the mind itself that is the centre of the person and the collapse of that signifies the death of a man. This is a much better argument on the basis of humanity but not on the basis of life. This is because when the mind shuts down there may well be still impulses travelling around the body causing the body to be active even if there is no mind to give it purpose. This however cannot but a definition of life because consciousness of the self is not a definition of life it on his own but more for the ability of existential intelligence. This is merely an asset that defines the perception of the human but not the humanity in itself. For example, if you define humanity on the basis of physical awareness then you cannot say that the termination of a child in the womb is the taking of a human life, the same with the slaying of someone in a coma. Now these are very sensitive subjects and are not to be addressed lightly. However it is imperative that the full element of each view is presented truthfully. So we still have the problem of Seths transformation and the question of humanity to answer. The body and mind on their own cannot negate humanity even though they are powerless without each the other. This is quite an interesting point, that humanity cannot be defined by body and mind alone however cannot be defined without them. The other option is the soul. Now many people do not believe in the soul. This is however a perfectly reasonable concept to aim for considering that we are looking at this more from a philosophical point of view. So for the sake of the paper lets look at this matter from the aspect of the soul. The Soul is usually referred to the spiritual state of being that is the location of the conscience and personality. The argument for leads to the belief that one can be human if they are in possession of a soul therefore if a soul resides within a body and that if it is the collective of the persons conscience and personality, they are human till the soul leaves. Now this would work but for the definition to be human as such there would be a problem for Seth. Can he really be defined as human still? The question can be stretched even further with his body and mind fading away would that make him human if he was a trapped soul in a dying husk. That would actually be a rather blunt example of what we would call human in this day and age. In conclusion we have looked at the paradox of the shape-shifter and to what point humanity becomes subjective. The outcome that can be accumulated from this theses has brought forth a rather thought provoking set of ideas. The one thing that stands out from the three areas that we look at in the situation of Seth is that if the soul exists then he can remain human as long as his mind can still fight the strength of the fly's instinctive nature. While still having a body for it to exist in. In short they all rely on each other. The mind, body and spirit. This does sound, admittedly, like a yoga class but if you take the first argument into consideration, it quotes a line from genesis. Now your world view may well be different but the validity of the

argument still stands. In the passages given, God says lets make man in our image. This, theologians will tell you, relates to the Trinity and using that argument. The concept that we are made not in a physical image but in community. Under this notion we could agree, despite your personal world view, that if all the parameters of this argument is true that we are the only creatures in creation that were made in God's image and no matter what we are spliced with or whatever deformities we are born with, we can still happily proudly call ourselves Human.

Bibliography: The Bible, New International Version, 1978, Published by Zondervan (including others publishers), http://www.zondervan.com/cultures/en-us/home.htm Film, The Fly, 1986, Directed by David Chronenberg, Brooksfilms, USA, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Fly_(1986_film) Web, Humanity, reference, Oxford, Advanced Learners Dictionary, UK, http://oald8.oxfordlearnersdictionaries.com/dictionary/humanity Genesis 1 :26-27 The Bible, New International Version, 1978, Published by Zondervan (including others publishers), http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/? search=Genesis+1&version=NIV Image 1, Film Still, The Fly, David Chronenburg, 1986, Brooksfilms, USA http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_1zAt4AV4T7c/TLXcmP7LyI/AAAAAAAAADw/lWF2EPxb__A/s1600/the-fly-brundle.jpg