Adjustment of the Legal Concept of “Humans” in the Digital Age

CHENG Mai

Abstract: In traditional jurisprudence, humans are defined as rational individuals with dignity, in other words, subjects with the ability to make their own choices and decisions. Individuals live in a state and the state’s main task is to provide convenient conditions for them to practice their rationality. After entering the digital age, it is becoming increasingly difficult to maintain individual autonomy. The interpretation of the concept of humans in the dichotomy of individuals and the state increasingly lacks comprehensiveness. Human beings are seemingly losing their monopoly on rationality. These phenomena in the new age have caused the traditional legal concept of humans to face the dilemma of increasingly insufficient explanatory power, which has given rise to the need to adjust the concept of humans. In the process of adjustment, we shall abandon the anthropocentric view of technology to promote the harmonious coexistence between human society and technological systems and fully accept various new aspects and phenomena of social life in the digital age. In addition to the sublation of the rational view of utilitarianism, we shall pay more attention to and protect human emotional needs while developing a human rights system in the digital age.

Keywords: digital age · human dignity · rationality · anthropocentrism · digital human rights