BIOLOGICAL MEDICINE AND THE SURVIVAL OF THE PERSON

The status of the person is analyzed as represented by the life scienc es under the influence of modern physico-chemical and molecular biolog y. At the same time the linguistic structure of reality as seen throug h formalized scientific discourse is not that of a language, but rathe r that of operational symbolisms, so that the Judeo-Greek tradition of Verb as creating and Logos as procreating - which is probably at the origin of the surprising confidence in the possibility of dominating n ature through words and formulae - could be successful only through th e depersonalization of language. Notwithstanding appearances, the phen omena of structural and functional self-organization do not really cha nge this situation. In this context the question of the status of the person and of the intentional subject has to be dealt with pragmatical ly, giving up the notion of a unified scientific theory that would tak e into consideration at the same time the experimental sciences (physi cs, chemistry, biology and ''objective'' human) and the human sciences as linking subjectivity and intentionality.