The concept of personhood is central to applied ethics because it underpins debates about moral status, rights, and responsibilities. Personhood can be defined in multiple ways, each emphasizing different aspects of what it means to be a moral agent. One common approach is the biological or humanist definition, which identifies personhood simply with membership in the species *Homo sapiens*. This perspective emphasizes inherent characteristics such as human DNA or physical development and often forms the basis for ethical discussions regarding human rights and protections. However, this approach faces criticism in applied ethics because it may exclude non-human entities that exhibit morally relevant capacities, such as certain animals or artificial intelligences. Another approach is the cognitive or psychological definition, which emphasizes mental capacities as the core of personhood. According to this view, traits such as self-awareness, rationality, the ability to plan for the future, memory, and moral reasoning are essential for being considered a person. Philosophers like John Locke argued that consciousness and memory continuity are what constitute personal identity over time. In applied ethics, this definition influences debates about the moral status of fetuses, patients in persistent vegetative states, and individuals