When we call someone human or a person, what do we mean, and what are we trying to do? How has the concept of personhood expanded or contracted to include more or fewer beings and why? Are fetuses persons? Are corporations persons? Are chimps persons? Who counts as a person now, and who will count as a person in the future? How and why are human persons subject to dehumanization? Readings and texts will draw from historical sources and contemporary philosophy. No credit if credit earned for PHIL 780.