Personhood is essentially what it means to be considered a person. Each society and culture will have different criteria that one must meet in order to gain that social status and ‘become’ a person. This criteria can change over time and will affect the way that people relate to those around them as well as animals, spirits and technology.

In Western culture, there are two main concepts of personhood: the biological view which, you guessed it, is rooted in genetics and scientific evidence and the philosophical view which focuses on the social nature of being a person. Both of these approaches could be said to share the idea that personhood requires autonomy and individualism; however, this is not a worldwide belief.

The Melanesian people believe that personhood is gradually acquired from birth because one must learn the basic customs of the local culture before they can be considered a full person. Their concept of personhood relies heavily on the relationships they make with others as the amount of agency that each ‘dividual’ has is a compilation of interactions they have had with members of their community.

Buddhism teaches that the idea of not having a self is central to development; humans are a set of elements that will suffer if they try to have a sense of personhood. Some African concepts of personhood however relate directly to the ancestral spirits in one’s life as they can be asked for advice but equally, one may be punished by them. This idea blurs the line between material and spiritual whereas Buddhism puts emphasis on eliminating such attachments to the self.

In the modern world, technology can contest the previous concepts of personhood as many people would consider the internet and their social media to be extensions of themselves. Without an online presence, some may say that one is not a full person.