View source for Non-human

{{Short description|Entity that is not considered human}}
{{Redirect|Unhuman|2024 book by Jack Posobiec and Joshua Lisec|Unhumans{{!}}''Unhumans''}}
'''Non-human''' (also spelled '''nonhuman''') is any entity displaying some,<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.dictionary.com/browse/nonhuman|title=the definition of nonhuman|website=Dictionary.com|access-date=5 February 2019}}</ref> but not enough, [[human]] characteristics to be considered a human. The term has been used in a variety of contexts and may refer to objects that have been developed with [[human intelligence]], such as robots or vehicles.

==Animal rights and personhood==
{{Further information|Personhood#Non-human animals}}
In the [[animal rights]] movement, it is common to distinguish between "[[Personhood#Humans|human animal]]s" and "[[non-human animal]]s". Participants in the animal rights movement generally recognize that non-human animals have some similar characteristics to those of human [[personhood|person]]s. For example, various non-human animals have been shown to register pain, compassion, memory, and some [[Animal cognition|cognitive]] function.  Some animal rights activists argue that the similarities between human and non-human animals justify giving non-human animals rights that human society has afforded to humans, such as the right to self-preservation, and some even wish for all non-human animals or at least those that bear a fully thinking and conscious mind, such as [[vertebrate]]s and some [[invertebrate]]s such as [[cephalopod]]s, to be given a full right of personhood.

==The non-human in philosophy==
{{Clarify section|date=January 2022}}
Contemporary philosophers have drawn on the work of [[Henri Bergson]], [[Gilles Deleuze]], [[Félix Guattari]], and [[Claude Lévi-Strauss]] (among others) to suggest that the non-human poses [[epistemological]] and [[ontological]] problems for humanist and post-humanist ethics,<ref>{{Citation | title= Becoming-Animal Is A Trap For Humans: Deleuze and Guattari in Madagascar | first= Timothy | last= Laurie | journal=Deleuze and the Non-Human | year=2015 | url= https://www.academia.edu/10912960}} eds. Hannah Stark and Jon Roffe.</ref> and have linked the study of non-humans to materialist and [[ethological]] approaches to the study of society and culture.<ref>Whatmore, Sarah (2006), 'Materialist Returns: Practising Cultural Geography In and For a More-Than-Human World', ''Cultural Geographies'', 13, pp. 600-09.</ref>

==Artificial intelligence==
The term non-human has been used to describe computer programs and robot-like devices that display some human-like characteristics. In both [[science fiction]] and in the real world, [[artificial intelligence|computer programs]] and [[robots]] have been built to perform tasks that require human-computer interactions in a manner that suggests [[sentience]] and compassion. There is increasing interest in the use of robots in nursing homes and to provide elder care.<ref>{{citation |author=Nick Bilton| newspaper=The New York Times |date=May 19, 2013 |title=Disruptions: Helper Robots Are Steered, Tentatively, to Care for the Aging |url=http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/05/19/disruptions-helper-robots-are-steered-tentatively-to-elder-care/?ref=technology |access-date=2013-05-24}}</ref> Computer programs have been used for years in schools to provide one-on-one education with children. The [[Tamagotchi]] toy required children to provide care, attention, and nourishment to keep it "alive".

==See also==
* [[Animal]]
*[[Animal rights by country or territory]]
* [[Artificial intelligence]]
* [[Dehumanization]]
* [[Person]]

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

== External links ==
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*Johnson, Jim. [http://www.psf.wur.nl/en/workshops/Latour;%20Sociology%20of%20a%20Door.pdf "Mixing Humans and Nonhumans Together: The Sociology of a Door-Closer"]{{Dead link|date=April 2020 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}.
*Latour, Bruno. [https://web.archive.org/web/20110429072506/http://www.bruno-latour.fr/articles/article/113-MYERS-ECOTHEO.pdf "Will Non-humans be Saved? An Argument in Ecotheology"].
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[[Category:Personhood]]
[[Category:Artificial intelligence]]
[[Category:Critical theory]]


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