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People
People denotes a group of humans, either with unspecified traits, or
specific characteristics (e.g. the people of Spain or the people of the
Plains).
The term people is often used in English as the suppletive plural of person.
However, the word persons is sometimes used in place of people, especially
when it would be ambiguous with its collective sense (e.g. missing persons
instead of missing people). The term people can collectively refer to all
humans or it can be used to identify the citizens of a nation, or members of
a tribe, ethnic, or religious group. "People of color" is an archaic and
potentially derogatory phrase used to describe people with skin color darker
than that of white people.
In philosophy and religion
The concept of personhood (who is a person within a society) is the
fundamental component of any selective concept of people. A distinction is
maintained in philosophy and law between the notions "human being", or
"man", and "person". The former refers to the species, while the latter
refers to a rational agent (see, for example, John Locke's Essay concerning
Human Understanding II 27 and Immanuel Kant's Introduction to the Metaphysic
of Morals). Central issues of interest to people are the understanding of
the human condition and the meaning of life, and survival. Religion,
philosophy, and science do not show or represent modes and aspects of
inquiry which attempt to investigate and understand the nature, behavior,
and purpose of people. Sociology, economics, and politics represent modes by
which people investigate how to maximize a collective survival strategy.
Islam recognizes the People of the Book as members of monotheistic faiths
founded upon revelation related to its own faith. By contrast, in Judaism,
the Jews are often said to be the chosen people, a concept modified by the
Christian doctrine of the Elect.
In politics
Various republics govern, or claim to govern, in the name of the people.
Both the Roman Republic and the Roman Empire used the Latin term Senatus
Populusque Romanus, (the Senate and People of Rome). This term was fixed to
Roman legionary standards, and even after the Roman Emperors achieved a
state of total personal autarchy, they continued to wield their power in the
name of the Senate and People of Rome. A People's Republic is typically a
Marxist or socialist one-party state that claims to govern on behalf of the
people. Populism is another umbrella term for various political tendencies
that claim to represent the people, usually with an implication that they
serve the common people instead of the elite.
In law
In criminal law, in certain jurisdictions, criminal prosecutions are brought
in the name of the People. Several U.S. states, including California,
Illinois, and New York, use this style.[1] Citations outside the
jurisdictions in question usually substitute the name of the state for the
words "the People" in the case captions.[2] Four states — Massachusetts,
Virginia, Pennsylvania, and Kentucky — refer to themselves as the
Commonwealth in case captions and legal process.[3]. Other states, such as
Indiana, typically refer to themselves as the State in case captions and
legal process. The political theory underlying this format is that criminal
prosecutions are brought in the name of the sovereign; thus, in these U.S.
states, the "people" are judged to be the sovereign, even as in the United
Kingdom and other dependencies of the British Crown, criminal prosecutions
are typically brought in the name of the King or the Queen. "The people"
identifies the entire body of the citizens of a jurisdiction invested with
political power or gathered for political purposes.[4]
Footnotes
1. ^ See, e.g., California v. Anderson 6 Cal. 3d 628; 493 P.2d 880; 100 Cal.
Rptr. 152; 1972 Cal. LEXIS 154 (1972)
2. ^ See generally, The Bluebook: A Uniform System of Citation, rule 10.
3. ^ See Commonwealth (United States)
4. ^ Black's Law Dictionary, 5th ed., "People".
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