Main Difference – Human Being vs Being Human
At first glance, the two terms, human being and being human, appear to be similar, yet there is a difference between human being and being human when it comes to their meanings. If you look at these two words carefully, you can see that it is the position of the word “being” that makes all the difference in the meaning. In ‘human being’, ‘being’ is used as a noun and indicates a living thing and in ‘being human’, ‘being’ acts as a verb, thereby making ‘being human’ a verbal phrase, meaning displaying human qualities. The main difference between human being and being human is that ‘human being’ is generally defined as being a member of Homo sapiens race, while ‘being human’ means displaying characteristics that are unique to human beings. Let’s analyze these two words further by understanding the meaning of these words.
Who Is A Human Being
The meaning of human being is generally defined in a scientific perspective. A human being is a man, woman, or child of the species Homo sapiens, and different from other animals by advanced mental development, power of articulate speech, and upright stance. This definition explains how human species differ from other animal species and explains the three main differences between humans and other animals, namely, upright stance, language skills and mental development. From this explanation, we can arrive at the conclusion that Being human (the act of displaying human qualities) is a result of this superior mental development, which is unique to humans.
What Is Being Human
Being human can be defined as displaying characteristics that are unique to human beings. This can be analyzed in a philosophical perspective as well as in an introspective analysis of oneself. The meaning of being human can vary from one person to another.
For example, one might think that being human means showing humane qualities like kindness, empathy, generosity etc. Another might think that being human is the ability to choose between right and wrong while yet another think that being human is displaying all natural human characteristics like anger, pity, jealousy, love etc.
The meaning of being human also differs according to various factors like religion, nationality, family background etc.
Difference Between Human Being and Being Human
Image Courtesy:
“Human evolution” by Tkgd2007 – Own work. (CC BY-SA 3.0) via Wikimedia Commons
“Being human, 4 tears” by Johnhain – Own work First uploaded to www.Built4Love.com on March 7, 2015. Licensed under (CC BY-SA 4.0) via Wikimedia Commons
