The Changing Nature of Law's Natural Person: The Impact of Emerging Technologies on the Legal Concept of the Person

Abstract

This article discusses the legal concept of the person against the background of technological developments. Emerging technologies are offering radical ways to transform the biological and physical aspects of life. Several legal scholars claim that the technological artificialization of human life also calls for a more artificial, disembodied account of the natural person in law. According to them, the legal distinction between natural persons (human legal subjects) and artificial persons (non-human legal subjects, such as corporations) is becoming diluted and increasingly redundant. This article argues that, in an era of growing technological and postmodern disembodiment, the traditional legal distinction between natural and artificial persons remains important, albeit in a different form. An examination of the legal concept of the person in biomedical law suggests that law's category of the natural person still has its merits, not just despite these technological developments, but, remarkably enough, also because of them.