The Theory of Human Centrality (TCH): Normative Autonomy and the Epistemic Limits of Law

The Theory of Human Centrality (TCH), originally formulated in Portuguese as theTeoria da Centralidade Humana, is proposed as a general theory of law organized around adistinction between normative autonomy and epistemic self-sufficiency. Law retains authority todefine validity, rights, duties, competences, responsibilities and legal consequences, yet thatauthority does not entail exclusive capacity to explain the human phenomena on which legaldecisions depend. TCH places the person at the integrating center of fact, value, norm,interpretation, decision and consequence and from that premise develops a system composed ofepistemic insufficiency, human antecedence of the fact, necessary scientific integration,correspondence between power and cognition, human consequences, continuity of stateresponsibility and the TCH Test of Epistemic Necessity. The test uses relevance, reliability,materiality, necessity and proportionality to determine when external scientific knowledge ceasesto be optional enrichment and becomes part of a legally responsible duty of cognition. Thetheory does not transfer normative authority to experts, does not equate explanation withexculpation and does not authorize unlimited state inquiry. It instead seeks a controlled form ofepistemic openness capable of reducing decisions founded on hidden intuition, misunderstoodscience, or insufficient factual premises. This foundational preprint reconstructs the intellectualproblem addressed by TCH, presents its architecture and principal mechanisms, distinguishes itfrom generic interdisciplinarity and neighboring approaches, specifies limits and rivalexplanations and proposes pathways for comparative and empirical testing across adjudication,legislation, public policy and algorithmic decision-making.