But there’s a third sense of “human,” one captured in the phrase of “being human.” Human-ness is the quality—a mix of creativity, drive, and moral awareness—that transforms humans into persons. It is a special spark or spirit, unique among living creatures, a flame possessed in abundance by our heroes, possessed in small amounts by all. It is what makes Homo sapiens want to believe they are special, to believe they are unlike the other members of the genus Homo.
