Dignity at the Limit: Jean-Luc Nancy on the Possibility of Incommensurable Worth

Continental Philosophy Review 49 (3):309-323 (2016)
  Copy   BIBTEX

Abstract

Dignity, according to some recent arguments, is a useless concept, giving vague expression to moral intuitions that are better captured by other, better defined concepts. In this paper, I defend the concept of dignity against such skeptical arguments. I begin with a description of the defining features of the Kantian conception of dignity. I then examine one of the strongest arguments against that conception, advanced by Arthur Schopenhauer in On the Basis of Morality. After considering some standard accounts of dignity, showing how they fail adequately to address Schopenhauer’s concern, I propose and defend a new account of dignity, drawing on the ontology of Jean-Luc Nancy.

Similar books and articles

Nussbaum, Kant, and the Capabilities Approach to Dignity.Paul Formosa & Catriona Mackenzie - 2014 - Ethical Theory and Moral Practice 17 (5):875-892.
Undignified bioethics.Alasdair Cochrane - 2009 - Bioethics 24 (5):234-241.
Kant's Conception of Human Dignity.Oliver Sensen - 2009 - Kant Studien 100 (3):309-331.
Towards a Social Conception of Dignity.Carol V. A. Quinn - 2008 - International Journal of Applied Philosophy 22 (1):89-101.
Dignity as a moral concept.Colin Bird - 2013 - Social Philosophy and Policy 30 (1-2):150-176.
Dignity, Honour, and Human Rights: Kant's Perspective.Rachel Bayefsky - 2013 - Political Theory 41 (6):0090591713499762.
What is a death with dignity?Jyl Gentzler - 2003 - Journal of Medicine and Philosophy 28 (4):461 – 487.
Human Dignity, Rights and Self-Control.Michael Joseph Meyer - 1987 - Dissertation, The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Criminalizing Behaviour to Protect Human Dignity.Tatjana Hörnle - 2012 - Criminal Law and Philosophy 6 (3):307-325.
Analyzing dignity: a perspective from the ethics of care.Carlo Leget - 2013 - Medicine, Health Care and Philosophy 16 (4):945-952.
The Nature of Dignity.Ron Bontekoe - 2008 - Lexington Books.

Analytics

Added to PP
2015-03-17

Downloads
632 (#24,253)

6 months
132 (#21,954)

Historical graph of downloads
How can I increase my downloads?

Author's Profile

Bryan Lueck
Southern Illinois University Edwardsville

Citations of this work

Human dignity and the logic of the gift.Jaco Kruger - 2017 - South African Journal of Philosophy 36 (4):516-524.

Add more citations

References found in this work

Groundwork for the metaphysics of morals.Immanuel Kant - 1785 - New York: Oxford University Press. Edited by Thomas E. Hill & Arnulf Zweig.
Critique of practical reason.Immanuel Kant - 1788 - New York,: Liberal Arts Press. Edited by Mary J. Gregor.
Kantian constructivism in moral theory.John Rawls - 1980 - Journal of Philosophy 77 (9):515-572.
Groundwork of the metaphysics of morals.Immanuel Kant - 1785 - In Elizabeth Schmidt Radcliffe, Richard McCarty, Fritz Allhoff & Anand Vaidya (eds.), Late Modern Philosophy: Essential Readings with Commentary. Blackwell.

View all 18 references / Add more references