The New Mythology of the Body and the Transformation of the Therapeutic Space

Abstract

Background: The history of medicine has flowed in the wake of knowledge and social perceptions about the body and corporeality. There is no idea of health without reference to the notion of body (although "health" can have other meanings, figuratively). Considering the same history, the body was the subject of numerous segregations and categorizations due to which it was and is a "social object" and a "political object." In turn, the spatial and cultural framework was the environment and determinant of the medicine development which is not only a science but also an inter-human interactive practice.

Areas of uncertainty: In this article, we will analyze the current social (re)construction of the notions of body and space by referring to the technological and structural changes that are manifested in medicine and society and their ethical implications.

Data sources: A review of the specialized literature was performed in June-July 2023, using keywords like human enhancement, therapeutic enhancement, transhumanist medicine, ethics from PubMed, Scopus, Web of Science, and Google Scholar, and official documents issued at the international level (World Health Organization, European Commission).

Ethics and therapeutic advances: This literature review suggests that few practical solutions to human enhancement, both curative and preventive, whether cognitive or physical, have been approached entirely from an ethical point of view. The historical evolution of the concept of human enhancement has led to debates between "transhumanists" and "bioconservatives" depending on how they relate to the improvement of the human condition without or with reticence interventions to improve human capabilities being related to various interventions, from pharmacological, surgical ones to those in the field of genetics, nanomedicine, or cybernetics. In addition to the technical aspects, which are often the major concern of researchers and those applying new technologies, there are also ethical and legislative aspects, to better understand the impact that the dynamics and diffusion of these processes have on the evolution of the human species.

Conclusions: In interference with these technologies, the body is exposed to possibilities of change and evolution with colossal (expected) social impact that can change norms and values that have been stable for centuries. Social space and place are also proving to be "processes in the making'" for which we need to detect what developments are possible or have already imposed themselves as a trend in the social and medical world.