A Sense of “Being Human” and Twinship Experience

In this article, I attempt to illustrate the ways in which a person experiences himself or herself as being human, including what it means to be treated as human by others. This study consists of a review of the literature in clinical ethics and psychoanalysis, and the psycho-biographical research of Heinz Kohut, who sought the meaning of being human while in the grip of a ten year struggle with lymphoma. The study shows that, from a self psychological perspective, the sense of being human can be described as a psychological state in which a person feels an emotional tie with others and makes sense of temporal continuity in his or her existence. Through careful examination of Kohut’s words and his life, I conclude that a sense of being human can be organized through sharing with the other about how the person was born, and how he has been with the other, through an authentic and honest relationship with others, or through a hope of passing on something significant to the next generation. I argue that these human processes serve to connect a person’s subjective experience from the past with the present, from the present to the future, and to the experience of others in the present.