Archiwum Filozofii Prawa
i Filozofii SpołecznejJournal of the Polish Section of IVR ISSN 2082-3304Logo of the Polish Section of IVRPolish Section of IVR ↗

Research article

Pygmalion’s Digital Dream: An Outline of Philosophical and Legal Issues of Human Digital Twins on the Example of Medical Applications

Article authors
  1. Tomasz Widłak

Cyfrowy sen Pigmaliona: zarys problematyki filozoficznoprawnej cyfrowych bliźniaków człowieka w zastosowaniach medycznych

Archiwum Filozofii Prawa i Filozofii Społecznej, nr 1(42)/2025, s. 93-111

DOI 10.36280/afpifs.2025.1.93 ↗
Issue
nr 1(42)/2025
Pages
93-111
Published
Article language
English

English

Abstract

The aim of the article is to present a synthesis of the technological and social framework of the new, disruptive technology of human digital twins (HDT) and to outline the most important philosophical and legal issues related to it. The latter include ontological and phenomenological aspects in relation to the problem of legal personality and the status of HDT. Due to the universality of the technology and the breadth of issues related to it, the scope of the discussion was limited to examples of the use of technology in health care and medicine. The article presents the possibilities and threats of using HDTs in this area. Selected, most important examples of potential ethical and legal problems posing a challenge to future and current regulations in areas such as privacy and data protection, data quality and ownership, and patient autonomy were also analyzed. The conclusions of the article, point that the changes resulting from this disruptive technology go beyond purely practical aspects and touch the philosophical foundations of the legal order. HDT technology itself, at its early stage of development, does not clearly determine the direction of evolution of legal humanism paradigm towards inclusive posthumanism or technological transhumanism. The need to consider the phenomenological perspective of the HDT experience was emphasized. It may become the most important factor determining possible conceptual changes in law and jurisprudence. In addition to the discussion, the article provides an extensive review of the existing computer science literature on HDT. There have been no studies on the issue of HDT from the perspective of jurisprudence in the legal literature so far. Key words: Human digital twin, personalized medicine, artificial intelligence, new technology law, medical law, transhumanism, digital clone .

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References

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Publication information

Author and affiliation

Tomasz Widłak

Uniwersytet Gdański

Issue data

Issue nr 1(42)/2025

Pages
93-111
Published
AccessOtwarty LicenceCC BY 4.0 ↗

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T. Widłak, Pygmalion’s Digital Dream: An Outline of Philosophical and Legal Issues of Human Digital Twins on the Example of Medical Applications, „Archiwum Filozofii Prawa i Filozofii Społecznej” nr 1(42)/2025, s. 93–111, DOI: 10.36280/afpifs.2025.1.93

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