A Response to Nordenfelt's “The Varieties of Dignity”
Health Care Analysis 12 (2):83-89 (2004)
| Abstract | I respond to Lennart Nordenfelt's analysis of dignity by questioning his attempt to establish an objective standard by which dignity can be determined. I approach this by considering the way in which claims to dignity may be contested and defended. This leads, in the cases of dignity of merit and dignity of moral status, to an apparent relativism. This relativism is checked by further consideration of dignity of identity, and in particular by consideration of the nature of the processes that serve to humiliate people. It is suggested that acts of humiliation attack certain competences that human beings develop as embodied, social beings. Menschenwürde may then be articulated as an account of human nature, in terms of the human potential to develop a series of core competences. This account of human nature aspires to universality, and as such offers an objective ground to dignity. This paper is a product of the research project on Dignity and Older Europeans (Fifth Framework (Quality of Life) Programme, Contract No QLG6, 2001, 00888) | |||||||||
| Keywords | No keywords specified (fix it) | |||||||||
| Categories | ||||||||||
| Options |
|
|||||||||
Download options| PhilPapers Archive |
Upload a copy of this paper Check publisher's policy on self-archival Papers currently archived: 5,875 |
| External links |
 |
| Through your library | Configure |
Similar books and articlesLennart Nordenfelt (2004). The Varieties of Dignity. Health Care Analysis 12 (2):69-81.
Peter Baumann (2007). Persons, Human Beings, and Respect. Polish Journal of Philosophy 1 (2):5-17.
Shaoping Gan (2009). Human Dignity as a Right. Frontiers of Philosophy in China 4 (3):370-384.
Lennart Nordenfelt (2003). Dignity and the Care of the Elderly. Medicine, Health Care and Philosophy 6 (2):103-110.
Oliver Sensen (2009). Kant's Conception of Human Dignity. Kant-Studien 100 (3):309-331.
Carol V. A. Quinn (2008). Towards a Social Conception of Dignity. International Journal of Applied Philosophy 22 (1):89-101.
Doris Schroeder (forthcoming). Human Rights and Human Dignity. Ethical Theory and Moral Practice.
Alasdair Cochrane (2010). Undignified Bioethics. Bioethics 24 (5):234-241.
Daniel Statman (2000). Humiliation, Dignity and Self-Respect. Philosophical Psychology 13 (4):523 – 540.
Nick Bostrom (2008). Dignity and Enhancement. In Adam Schulman (ed.), Human Dignity and Bioethics: Essays Commissioned by the President's Council on Bioethics. [President's Council on Bioethics.
Manuel Toscano (2011). Human Dignity as High Moral Status. Les Ateliers de L’Éthique / The Ethics Forum 6 (2):4-25.
David Badcott (2003). The Basis and Relevance of Emotional Dignity. Medicine, Health Care and Philosophy 6 (2):123-131.
Ernesto V. Garcia (2000). The Social Nature of Kantian Dignity. Social Philosophy Today 16:127-139.
Michael Hauskeller (2012). Believing in the Dignity of Human Embryos. Human Reproduction and Genetic Ethics 17 (1):53-65.
Gan Shaoping & Zhang Lin (2009). Human Dignity as a Right. Frontiers of Philosophy in China 4 (3):370 - 384.
Analytics
Monthly downloads |
Added to index2010-08-24Total downloads12 ( #94,544 of 556,837 )Recent downloads (6 months)1 ( #64,847 of 556,837 )How can I increase my downloads? |
My notes
Discussion
