Related Experiment Video
Updated: May 13, 2026

Virtual Hand with Ambiguous Movement between the Self and Other Origin: Sense of Ownership and 'Other-Produced' Agency
Published on: October 28, 2020
Interconnected, inhabited and insecure: why bodies should not be property
1Exeter College, , Oxford, UK
Abstract:
This article argues against the case for regarding bodies and parts of bodies to be property. It claims that doing so assumes an individualistic conception of the body. It fails to acknowledge that our bodies are made up of non-human material; are unbounded; constantly changing and deeply interconnected with other bodies. It also argues that holding that our bodies are property does not recognise the fact that we have different attitudes towards different parts of our removed bodies and the contexts of their removal. The appropriate legal reform should, therefore, be to produce a statute which can provide a balance between the competing personal, social and interpersonal interests in different body parts.
Related Concept Videos
Free-falling Bodies: Introduction
Physiological Barriers
The blood endothelial barrier is the most porous of these. It allows all small ionized, un-ionized, and lipophilic molecules to pass through the endothelial lining into the interstitial space...
Factors Influencing Attraction II: Physical Attraction
Virtual Work for a System of Connected Rigid Bodies
Next,...
Social Traps
Defense Mechanism Against Infection
In addition, many body organ systems have unique defenses against infection. The skin is an intact, multilayered surface preventing invasion by microorganisms unless impaired. Mucous membranes lining the mouth, nose, and eyelids are barriers...

