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The case for conventionalism about personhood Muñoz Corcuera, Alfonso Muñoz Corcuera, Alfonso Wagner, Nils-Frederic Published December 9, 2025. The problem of personhood, as I will understand it in this paper, is the problem of which properties define the class of persons. The standard response to this problem is that to be a person means having certain higher-order psychological capacities. Call this “cognitivism” about personhood. By contrast, conventionalism about personhood claims that to be a person is to occupy a role within certain normative conventions. In this paper, I argue against cognitivism and in favour of conventionalism. To do so, first I present both cognitivism and conventionalism. Second, I introduce two of the strongest arguments for cognitivism. Third, I show that we should reject both arguments. Finally, I conclude that the insights we can get from the discussion support a certain type of conventionalism. 2026-04-23T11:42:26Z 2026-04-23T11:42:26Z 2025 book part Muñoz-Corcuera, A. (2025). The case for conventionalism about personhood. In Muñoz-Corcuera, A. and Wagner, N.-F. (eds.). Conventionalism about personal identity (pp. 73-90). Routledge. 9781041083856 9781003645122 10.4324/9781003645122 https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14352/135001 https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003645122 https://www.taylorfrancis.com/chapters/edit/10.4324/9781003645122-5/case-conventionalism-personhood-alfonso-mu%C3%B1oz-corcuera?context=ubx&refId=72297924-c9c7-4e8f-93ef-b70311a13e70 https://www.routledge.com/Conventionalism-about-Personal-Identity/Munoz-Corcuera-Wagner/p/book/9781041083856 https://produccioncientifica.ucm.es/documentos/694706a2221f004fbfa3be86 eng info:eu-repo/grantAgreement/MICINN/Plan Estatal de Investigación Científica y Técnica y de Innovación 2017-2020/PID2020- 117413GA-I00/ES/INSTITUCION Y CONSTITUCION DE LA INDIVIDUALIDAD: ASPECTOS ONTOLÓGICOS, SOCIALES Y DE DERECHO/INCON restricted access Routledge