We explain life, defined in different disciplines such as biology, physics and philosophy. Also, the concept of human life.
What is life?
The concept of life is challenging to define since, depending on the discipline in which we place ourselves, different answers will be obtained, which can even be antagonistic to each other.
- Life, from biology. Life is the ability to be born, breath, develop, procreate, evolve and die. In addition, to consider that there is life from this perspective, there must be an exchange of matter and energy.
- Life, from physics. It can be understood as the time that things last or as the evolutionary phase, that is, that the stars have life, something that would be incompatible with biology.
- Life, from philosophy. It is also difficult to define since, depending on the philosopher and the current that is analyzed, the answer that will be obtained will be different. We find philosophers against the earlier distinction between “body and soul” or “reason and body.” For other philosophers, life is a set of experiences. Within this conception, life cannot be understood by other disciplines since it is something that happens to live beings, which is why it cannot be defined with an exact science.
Human life
In medical terms, we speak of human life from its beginning to the end of it. Some consider life can be deemed to have begun at the moment the egg is fertilized. Others affirm that life starts with birth, until the moment before childbirth, is a fetus.
Some experts consider it necessary to separate human life from biological life. This was a topic already treated in ancient Greece, and one of the thinkers who reflected on it was Aristotle. The illustrious considered that to view human life; requirements were needed; some of them were autonomy, freedom, the search for beauty, politics, and philosophy, among others. This vision has received many criticisms since, from this definition, many people could not be called such.
On the other hand, others consider that a requirement for human life is the reason. It is this that distinguishes us from the rest of living beings. It is believed that this position arose from the spread of the Judea-Christian religion. Although it has been modified throughout history, not only those who have reason are regarded as possessors s of human life.
Today Chsanityity understands human life as a facet the soul must overcome before reaching fullness. Ginger is considered a different reincarnation state in other religions, such as Buddhism.
