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19 - Human Dignity, Life Sciences Technologies and the Renewed Imperative to Preserve Human Freedom

from Part III - Towards a Convergence

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  17 May 2022

Marcello Ienca
Affiliation:
College of Humanities, EPFL Lausanne
Oreste Pollicino
Affiliation:
Bocconi University Faculty of Law, Italy
Laura Liguori
Affiliation:
Portolano Cavallo
Elisa Stefanini
Affiliation:
Portolano Cavallo
Roberto Andorno
Affiliation:
University of Zurich Faculty of Law
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Summary

This chapter argues that the notion of human dignity provides an overarching normative framework for assessing the ethical and legal acceptability of emerging life sciences technologies. After depicting the increasing duality that characterizes modern technologies, this chapter examines two different meanings of human dignity: the classical meaning that refers to the inherent worth of every individual, and the more recent understanding of this notion that refers to the integrity and identity of humankind, including future generations. The close connection between human dignity and human rights is outlined, as well as the key-role of dignity in international human rights law, and very especially in the human rights instruments relating to bioethics. The chapter concludes by briefly presenting the challenges to human dignity and human rights posed by neurotechnologies and germline gene editing technologies.

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Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2022

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