> If we define humans as having a sufficiently sophisticated language
That would be hard to object to.
> and using a term to reference one's entire species is characteristic of that
But this is easy to object to. People can easily do without a term for the species; it's more common to use tribal names, so that a contrast is drawn between different groups of humans (as opposed to between humans and animals, or humans and gods).
Terms for humans as a species come along pretty quickly, but they're not universal.
That would be hard to object to.
> and using a term to reference one's entire species is characteristic of that
But this is easy to object to. People can easily do without a term for the species; it's more common to use tribal names, so that a contrast is drawn between different groups of humans (as opposed to between humans and animals, or humans and gods).
Terms for humans as a species come along pretty quickly, but they're not universal.