O direito á liberdade de uso e a (auto)manipulação do corpo

Abstract

This work intends to propose and justify the creation of the fundamental right to the free usage and manipulation of the human body. In order to do so, the starting point was the finding that the human person’s body is strongly controlled and regulated. Many body usages are legally or morally forbidden. In such context, the right to physical integrity is traditionally understood as a right to be physically intangible, so as to prohibit even the subject’s autonomous interventions in his own corporeity. However, from the perspective that the human person needs to be autonomous to have dignity (STANCIOLI), this work intends to demonstrate that the body is a bio-cultural apparatus with high plasticity, and that it represents a space for the human person’s self-fulfillment. Corporeity is already used and manipulated in many situations, such as at work, in sports, medicine or for aesthetic purposes. And the possibilities of experimentation are unlimited. Certainly, there might be some prohibitions to the body’s usage when it causes damage to third parties or to the collectivity. However, any prohibition must be exceptional and justified. The rule should be freedom, manifested in both private and public spheres.