Abstract
The claim that human dignity is universal is challenged by the particular experience of the horrible things people do to others. If dignity is just a ‘vacuous concept’ then the notion of universal human rights and the claim of cosmopolitanism that all human beings form a single moral community are also called into question. A close reading of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and an analysis the historical development of the text reveals a complex conception of human dignity as expressed by the Component Dimensions of Human Dignity model. The model conceives of human dignity in terms of four Component Dimensions—existential, behavioral, cognitive-affective and social—each consisting of a Complementary Duality comprising two facets held in tension along an axis of the Already and the Not Yet. Consequently, human dignity can be understood both as Already a universal truth, and as Not Yet realized in every particular life.
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Notes
- 1.
Wils raises similar concerns in his article and comes to a similar conclusion regarding the necessary multi-dimensionality of the concept of human dignity. However, his approach is different in that, via a historical-systematic analysis, he seeks to classify various types of dignity according to their methodological presuppositions. The model presented in the current chapter focuses instead on the semantic aspects of human dignity independent of the concept’s historical development.
- 2.
Certain assumptions regarding the intended meaning are made where the meaning is not immediately clear. These assumptions are made in support of the model of the dignity of the human person presented in this chapter. Whether these assumptions are in fact correct is an area for further research, both into the historical development of the document, and thus its intended meanings, and the use of this document in contemporary debates, and thus its ascribed meanings.
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Kirchhoffer, D.G. (2016). Questioning Human Dignity: The Dimensions of Dignity Model as a Bridge Between Cosmopolitanism and the Particular. In: Tālivaldis Ozoliņš, J. (eds) Religion and Culture in Dialogue. Sophia Studies in Cross-cultural Philosophy of Traditions and Cultures, vol 15. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-25724-2_11
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