My grandmother died twenty years ago. She was a remarkable woman who I still miss dearly. At her funeral, I noticed a bouquet of flowers that had been sent by my grandfather. The card read, “My dear, there will never be another you.” This was not intended as a theological or philosophical statement, but it comes close to describing the Catholic understanding of the value of human personhood. Each of us is a unique and unrepeatable phenomenon. It does not require belief in God to see why that is precious and worth preserving. We realize it instinctively.
But why should it be so? Presumably, every dung beetle is also a unique and unrepeatable phenomenon, yet we do not worry much about the dying of dung beetles. What makes my grandmother more valuable than a dung beetle in any objective sense? It cannot simply be my personal feelings about her. Most of you have never met her, but I am willing to bet most of you already believe her life was more valuable than a dung beetle’s.
The obvious difference is that my grandmother is a person, while a dung beetle is not. Again, most people would realize this by instinct. It requires neither philosophy nor religion to be seen, just common sense. But the why behind that instinct is a little tricky to pin down.
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