Theo asked:

I've been wondering if philosophers consider mentally retarded individuals as humans.

============

My problem is that I have no idea what "philosophers" is. Has anyone ever met one? I could ask, "do
politicians consider mentally retarded people as human?", and how would you answer? Well... there
are lotsof politicians, right? Which one(s) am I referring to? Well, there are lotsof philosophers, all of
whom, perhaps surprisingly, are human beings with their own opinions, etc., many of which differ
from each other.

Speaking as a philosopher, I am not happy being lumped together with every other philosopher. And
if that is notthe intent of the question, I am utterly unable to answer it, since the range of
philosophers' opinions and thinking on this (and virtually every other) question is quite wide. One
might continue this thought and question Theo's considering of "mentally retarded individuals" as one
category also.

Steven Ravett Brown