A person can be defined by the structure of their relations to the dead

Evidence

It is not impossible (provided one understands this properly) to define a “person” by his dead—i.e., by the areas of individualization or of collectivization which he has determined in the necropolis, by the roads and pathways which he has traced, by the information which he has decided to get for himself, by the “roots” which he has put down there. — Jean-Paul Sartre, Being and Nothingness, 1262

Categorization

• XREF: This anticipates Beauvoir’s account of how individuals are situated by history and by relations to generations past; also resonates with Heidegger’s being-toward-death and thrownness. — connects to: The person is defined as a free relation to oneself; My death is meaningful only through the Other who remains to preserve my meanings.; In African thought a person is fundamentally a relation, not an individual — Frans Dokman, Beyond Bantu Philosophy_…, 306 (+2 more)
• DEFINE: Sartre offers a striking redefinition of personhood grounded in one’s chosen stance toward the dead.

Broader Connections

• In African thought a person is fundamentally a relation, not an individual #corroborates (0.82) — Frans Dokman, Beyond Bantu Philosophy_…, 306