Meaning and Kind of Person
The term ‘person’ and ‘personality’ has a historical evolution. Roman law, Greek law and Hindu law, has used the concept too. In Roman law, the term had a specialized meaning, and it was synonymous with ‘caput’ means status. Thus, a slave had an imperfect persona. In later period it was denoting as a being or an entity capable of sustaining legal rights and duties. In ancient Roman Society, there was no problem of personality as the ‘family’ was the basic unit of the society and not the individual.
The term person is derived from Latin word persona which means a mask worn by actors playing different roles in a drama. In modern days it has been used in a sense of a living person capable of having rights and duties. Now it has been used in different senses in different disciplines. In the philosophical and moral sense the term has been used to mean the rational quality of human being. In law it has a wide meaning. It means not only human beings but also associations as well. Law personifies some real thing and treats it as a legal person. This personification both theoretically and practically clarifies thought and expression.
There are human beings who are not persons in legal sense such as outlaws and slaves (in early times). In the same way there are legal persons who are not human beings such as corporations, companies, trade unions; institutions like universities, hospitals are examples of artificial personality recognized by law in the modern age. Hence, the person is an important category of concept in legal theory, particularly business and corporate laws have extensively used the concept of person for protection as well as imposing the liability.
The term ‘person’ and ‘personality’ has a historical evolution. Roman law, Greek law and Hindu law, has used the concept too. In Roman law, the term had a specialized meaning, and it was synonymous with ‘caput’ means status. Thus, a slave had an imperfect persona. In later period it was denoting as a being or an entity capable of sustaining legal rights and duties. In ancient Roman Society, there was no problem of personality as the ‘family’ was the basic unit of the society and not the individual.
The term person is derived from Latin word persona which means a mask worn by actors playing different roles in a drama. In modern days it has been used in a sense of a living person capable of having rights and duties. Now it has been used in different senses in different disciplines. In the philosophical and moral sense the term has been used to mean the rational quality of human being. In law it has a wide meaning. It means not only human beings but also associations as well. Law personifies some real thing and treats it as a legal person. This personification both theoretically and practically clarifies thought and expression.
There are human beings who are not persons in legal sense such as outlaws and slaves (in early times). In the same way there are legal persons who are not human beings such as corporations, companies, trade unions; institutions like universities, hospitals are examples of artificial personality recognized by law in the modern age. Hence, the person is an important category of concept in legal theory, particularly business and corporate laws have extensively used the concept of person for protection as well as imposing the liability.
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