Book contents
- Human Dignity and Political Criticism
- Human Dignity and Political Criticism
- Copyright page
- Dedication
- Contents
- Preface and Acknowledgments
- Part I The Contours of Dignitarian Humanism
- Part II Against Traditional Accounts of Human Dignity
- 5 The Inherent Dignity of the Person
- 6 The Inner Ocean
- 7 Passport-Dignity
- Part III A Revisionist Approach
- Bibliography
- Index
7 - Passport-Dignity
from Part II - Against Traditional Accounts of Human Dignity
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 24 September 2021
- Human Dignity and Political Criticism
- Human Dignity and Political Criticism
- Copyright page
- Dedication
- Contents
- Preface and Acknowledgments
- Part I The Contours of Dignitarian Humanism
- Part II Against Traditional Accounts of Human Dignity
- 5 The Inherent Dignity of the Person
- 6 The Inner Ocean
- 7 Passport-Dignity
- Part III A Revisionist Approach
- Bibliography
- Index
Summary
The various different construals of individual dignity discussed in Chapters 5 and 6 share a common feature. They all interpret dignity possessively, as rooted within the individual person – whether in the form of an existential attribute, an identity, an “inherent worth,” or a bundle of important capacities (rationality, autonomy, ability to pursue projects, etc.). The implicit conception is gravitational, with the overriding force of dignitarian considerations emanating from something localized to individuals considered as such. We saw that despite its endorsement of a relational view of dignity, even Kant’s theory shares something of this centripetal character. For although he theorized moral dignity as the management of a struggle between antagonists, Kant internalized that conflict to the self. Hence, in Kant’s view, the struggle for dignity and self-respect is finally an intimate one, played out within agents’ deliberative self-consciousness.
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- Human Dignity and Political Criticism , pp. 96 - 110Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2021