Property Law 108b
January 31, 2006 Page 1 of 2
Property in the Human Body: Outline
1. Overall Objective To gain an understanding of the debate over recognizing property in human bodies. 2. Themes -- subject/object dichotomy in law -- legal construction of the "human" and "person" -- “commodification anxiety” with respect to the human body -- personhood theory for private property -- existing property in the human body 3. Types of questions we are asking What are the types of issues that arise with respect to property in human bodies? According to the law, what does it mean to be "human"? to be a "person"? What is the traditional relationship between persons and property? Is personhood equivalent with human flourishing? Why might it be problematic for human flourishing to commodify important personal things such as human biological materials or capacities? Why might it enable human flourishing to commodify important personal things? How do law and society already permit the commodification of human beings? Or, why is the debate over property in human bodies not a new one? How does the recent federal legislation in the form of the Assisted Human Reproduction Act answer these questions?
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Schedule for the Week Class 1: Introducing the issues and commodification anxiety. (Nelkin, Radin, Mahoney) Class 2: The debate: Should we have property in human biological (including reproductive) materials? (Downie, Nedelsky) Class 3: Do we already have property in our bodies through social identities and their corresponding privileges such as whiteness? If so, what should we or the law do about it? (Harris)
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Important Concepts commodification social construction dignity market discourse equality relational autonomy
Personhood Inalienability commodification anxiety
What human biological materials or capacities should we be able to sell or commodify? What should be “market alienable” to use Radin’s term?
Market Inalienable
Market Alienable