Basic definitions

Personal identity: In philosophy,  the concept of personal identity gives rise to different positions, with substance traditionally playing an important role. This essay alternatively understands personal identity as a process, following e.g. Anne Sophie Meincke (2019) and Marya Schechtmann (2014). The biological nature of man is in the foreground. Organisms, whether they are human or not, are dynamic systems that must continually be in contact and in communication with their environment in order to exist and survive. The human person can, therefore, only be understood as as process for whose identity change is essential. Consequently, consciousness, too, calls for a holistic and dynamic perspective.

To have a personal identity means, therefore, that due to the organic corporality, which is subject to a continual process of change, a person as a whole is distinct and unique and undergoes change due to continued influences.

Principles of reason: With global coexistence in mind, the author of this eassy assumes that principles of reason in the sense of a universal ethic could exist and that man, being endowed with reason, is able to steadily approach these principles. Consensus in a discourse that is pursued in a fair manner is required. Universality can only be claimed if every other person who could enter into the discourse agreed, too. The starting point is Jürgen Habermas' "consensus theory of truth" (cf. 1973, 127-183). Dietrich Böhler set up the  "categorical imperative of discourse ethics" as mandatory instrument  for regulating consensus-building: "Seek the reasoning and the acting that would meet with the substantiated approval from all partners in real, purely argumentative discourses." (Böhler and Gronke 2011, 559).

In addition, it should be noted that Julian Nida-Rümelin considers discourse ethics to be "an important element of a comprehensive normative ethics". However, a one-sided emphasis is placed on the "homo disputans". He considers it a major problem that norms are only held valid if all parties in a practical discourse consent. This is not always feasible in practice, however. "Discourse ethics provides no criterion for settling issues of justice. The clash of interests can only be solved by standards that are ethical in content and not by considering personal interests and the willingness to introduce them into an informal discourse. Cooperation in the sense of structural rationality calls for a regulatory point of view that goes beyond  securing the communication facilities." Discourse ethics requires structurally rational agents and can claim validity only under these ideal conditions (cf. Julian Nida-Rümelin 2001, 110 - 112).

Immanuel Kant's categorical imperative is considered another example of the attempt of a universal ethic which man, being endowed with reason, is able to approach steadily. 

Relativism in the sense that "everything is true and/or right and nothing is wrong" has no place in this essay; the same applies to a dogmatic or ideological concept of truth and/or reason.

Truth: With respect to truths from a scientific perspective, the assumption is "that a real world exists, that it has specific structures, and that these structures are partly perceivable". Gerhard Vollmer describes this concept of "hypothetical realism" in Evolutionäre Erkenntnistheorie (evolutionay epistemology) (cf. 1981, 35).  Karl Popper, Hans Albert and many others described the falsification principle as the ideal way for the process of advancement of knowledge, this process being most likely able to continually approach the principles and structures of the real world and/or gain images thereof. Thus truth means a knowledge of reality, provided that it stands up to constant examination. Particularly as a technician one observes again and again that approaches to an existing reality e.g. in nuclear physics, electrical engineering, communications engineering or astrophysics, to name but a few, bear examination and allow forecasts with a high degree of accuracy. How else would the first Moon landing or the calculation of nuclear energy have been possible.

Or think of medicine, the progress in treatment methods and how successfully a number of diseases can be cured today. It can therefore be presumed that a very comprehensive knowledge exists in medicine and that this knowledge is close to the truth and therefore knowledge in medicine is made up of approximations of facts.

In formal sciences such as mathematics, logic and geometry it is assumed that a distinction between "true" und "false"can be made.

Ethics: For a more precise definition this essay draws a distinction between closed and open ethics:

Closed ethics result from dogmatic teaching and are thus sacrosanct; they render progressive development impossible as they can neither be questioned nor criticized. Closed ethics are based on the individual and are prone to guilt assignment.

Open ethics refer exclusively to social coexistence; they include all life and are based on fairness and empathy. Open ethics use a consensus-based approach and stand for reflection. They are accessible to scientific criticism and always open to further development. Open ethics rely on constructive reparation instead of burdening the individual with destructive and paralyzing guilt assignment.

Part-Whole Relationship: "Constituting" is a term originating from mereology (37) , which describes the new characteristic of a whole synchronously emerging from the structured interaction of parts. Thus the new characteristic emerges simultaneously with the structured interaction of its parts. The emergence of the new characteristic is not causal or by interactive but synchronous.

System Theory: Particularly biological systems can be organized in a vertical hierarchical structure for better understanding. This creates or leads to the "emergence" of new characteristics or behavior in the transition from micro-level to macro-level.

A detailed discussion of further terms and philosophical positions that are relevant to this essay is presented in the below chapter "Positioning of my Text".