Artifactual Personages: Human persons and how they constitute artifacts

Human persons seem to be unique in their capacity to purposefully affect what they are like in significant ways. This capacity can have dramatic consequences for how a person is treated and for that person's quality of life. In my dissertation, I first propose an original account of what human persons are. I then argue that just as human persons have the capacity to make artifacts out of material like wood or plastic, human persons can also make artifacts out of human persons. I then show how this capacity explains some of the most significant features of human persons by applying my account to gender. I conclude by briefly indicating how this account relates to broader discussions in feminist theory.