Sources of Human Dignity
Soraj Hongladarom
Department of Philosophy
Center for Ethics of Science and Technology
Chulalongkorn University
Outline
Sources from the various “pre-modern”
traditions
Theistic
Non-theistic
Sources from the modern liberal tradition
How the two can be reconciled
‘Dignity’
“The quality of being worthy of honor or
respect.”
Latin: dignitas from dignus, „worthy‟
One has dignity when one is accorded
respect by others; hence, dignity seems
to be a relational concept.
But others may think otherwise.
Theistic Traditions
Man is made in the “mirror image” of God.
Dignity of man is thus derived from the
dignity of God.
What this means is that man is capable of
„emulating‟ God; animals don‟t have
dignity for this reason.
Ways in which man can emulate God.
Non-theistic Traditions
I‟ll speak basically about Buddhism.
Man, alone among all the sentient beings,
has a special kind of dignity because he
lies „in the middle,‟ capable of going up or
down entirely according to his own
volition.
Modern Tradition
According to Kant, human beings should
be accorded dignity because they are
rational beings and are autonomous
agent. Their acts are spontaneous
because they are not determined by any
external factors. This alone makes man
worthy of respect, a member of the
Kingdom of Ends.
Post-modern Traditions
Even in post-modern traditions human beings
are worthy of respect and hence have dignity
because, even though their autonomy is
challenged, their ability to think for themselves
(to a certain extent) remain.
It is noteworthy that the de-centering of the
subject does not necessarily lead to dissolution
of dignity.
How are they reconciled
All these traditions share a common
ground in that they refer to human beings‟
ability to „chart their own course.‟ Free,
autonomous will is very important.
This presents a powerful backdrop for the
argument that human dignity is universal
and is valid across cultures.
In this we side step the metaphysical
issue and focus on the actual, everyday
life of human beings interacting with one
another. In what ways are we distinct
from other animals?
Challenges
The idea of dignity per se is not usually challenged,
but in practice we humans very often discriminate
among ourselves, according more dignity to some
more than to others.
Nietzsche: The noble were “more dignified” than
the “commoners” because they were more
powerful.
But today that does not work any more. Today‟s
“nobles” in Nietzsche‟s sense are those who work
out their own course.
Challenges
Senses in which some are justified to be
accorded more dignity
Important sense in which all share the same
dignity no matter what.