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/lp/springer-journals/a-critical-legal-examination-of-liberalism-and-liberal-rights-VfMUcanuAk
- Publisher
- Springer International Publishing
- Copyright
- © The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2020
- ISBN
- 978-3-030-61024-1
- Pages
- 169 –222
- DOI
- 10.1007/978-3-030-61025-8_4
- Publisher site
- See Chapter on Publisher Site
Abstract
[Human dignity is an eminently contentious topic. For a variety of Catholic thinkers dignity flows directly from God himself down to each individual human being. For others like Steven Pinker it is a singularly stupid idea. As enshrined in various legal and religious documents, dignity is intrinsically possessed by all individuals simply by virtue of being human. This is despite the fact that, as Waldron notes, it may well have emerged as a concept to help distinguish those of rank from those with none before gradually being extended to the entirety of the human species. Waldron is on firm ground here. Philologically the root of the word lies in the Latin dignitas, signifying worthiness, and the French dignite. It was often applied to refer to the worth of the nobility, who apparently weren’t venerated quite enough, as a quality of distinction.]
Published: Nov 24, 2020