The Theory Of Binary Personality Right

As a new branch of academic field, the research on personality right in China started in 1980s, which leads to the inadequate basic theory on this subject. Extensive discussions and controversies are concentrated on the themes such as the object and nature of personality right and its protection by legislation, which are all based on the understanding of its conception. The primary task therefore is to identify the conception of personality right. Connotation and denotation comprise the conception, and logically speaking, the former determines the latter. So the research on the connotation of personality right is quite essential.The core element of the connotation of personality right lies in"personality". The content of"personality"went through three historical stages, from"the Status"to"the Abstract"and then"the Concrete". This process is not revolutionary but mingled tradition and modern, which also makes the content of personality to be rich and varied. From the time of the ancient Rome age, the ethical value intrinsic to human beings had been the core of personality. In modern times, a variety of personality interests develops from juridical practice, making personality so colorful.However, the law that"Rights can not point to the person"constrained the development of the theory of personality right severely, leading personality right could not be recognized in the legislation. Subsequently, inner-personality protected mode was taken in Civil Law countries. The reason for this problem lies in the fact that we have not realized the dialectical relationship between"person"and"body". According to different conditions, the relationship between"person"and"body"is both overlapped and separated. On this basis, the law that"Rights can not point to the person"is limited in its application, and we can also prove the validity of personality as the object of personality right.Form the view of history and reality, as the object of personality right,"personality"has its dual nature of both ethics and interests. There are also two aspects in the connotation of personality right correspondingly. The one is ethics intrinsic to the person, which derived from historical depth; the other is personality interests external to the person, which are developed in modern times. Ethical value constitutes the essence of personality right, while personality interests manifests in the form. Attention should be paid to ensure harmony between these two aspects. Directed at the legal practice in China, it is significant to maintain ethical value as the fundamental statue of personality right, and especially guard against the degeneration of human nature along with the expansion of personality interest.