What It Means to Be Human

American law assumes that individuals are autonomous, defined by their capacity to choose, and not obligated to each other. But our bodies make us vulnerable and dependent, and the law leaves the weakest on their own. O. Carter Snead argues for a paradigm that recognizes embodiment, enabling law and policy to provide for the care that people need.

Un expert de frunte in bioetica publica pledeaza pentru o noua conceptie a identitatii umane in legislatia si politica americana. Limitele naturale ale corpului uman ne fac vulnerabili si, prin urmare, dependenti, de-a lungul vietii noastre, de ceilalti. Cu toate acestea, legislatia si politica americana ignora aceste fapte incapatanate, cu legi si decizii judiciare care presupun ca oamenii sunt autonomi, definiti de capacitatea lor de a alege.