Bases for a materialist ethic on the body

Abstract

Societies convulse when they fail to reach moral agreements or when pacts generate numerous victims. In the last two centuries, the dominant mode of production, technological capitalism, has considerably transformed ways of life and brought the patriarchal morality into crisis. As a result, women have secured the right to induced abortion and the LGBTIQ+ community achieved marriage equality, but other rights remain disputed; in particular, this is the case with sex work and surrogacy, so their legalization is not foreseeable in the short term. Both issues fracture feminism and, at times, distance it from the LGBTIQ+ community, which is more inclined to accept them. The most controversial matter is surrogacy, which some consider an exploitation of the female body; however, the practice has always existed among family members.

This problem is taken as the basis for analysis in order to develop an ethics of the body that does not differentiate its parts according to criteria of dignity. Such an ethics also does not accept that committees of experts decide which rights are granted to citizens, although these committees may present their reflections.

That problem is taken as the main basis of analysis to develop a materialist ethic that does not differentiate the areas of the body according to criteria of dignity. Such ethics also does not accept that committees of experts decide the rights granted to citizens, although they can present their reflections.