C. Articulations 1. But autonomy cannot express the full meaning of respect for and protection of the human being. Autonomy remains merely an ideal, because of the structural limitations given to it by human finitude and dependance on biological, material and social conditions, lack of information for reasoning etc. We must recognise the human person as a situated living body. Autonomy in relation to small children, persons in coma and persons that are mentally ill should remain an open question.
Dignity is the property by virtue of which beings possess moral status.
There are several contested conceptions of dignity in European culture. Acknowledging various definitions our view is that it is nonetheless possible to argue succesfully that human being have duties towards the nonhuman part of living nature. The idea of integrity expresses the untouchable core, the basic condition of dignified life, both physical and mental, that must not be subject to external intervention. Therefore respect for integrity is respect for privacy and in particular for the patient's understanding of his or her own life and illness. Integrity refers to the coherence of life of beings with dignity that should not be touched and destroyed.