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Respect-Worthiness and Dignity

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  30 May 2013

CAROL HAY
CAROL HAY*
Affiliation:
University of Massachusetts Lowell
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Abstract

I argue that failing to fulfill the Kantian obligation to protect one’s rational nature might actually vitiate future instances of this obligation. To avoid this conclusion, I argue that, contrary to the received view among Kant scholars, the feature in virtue of which someone has unconditional and incomparable value is not the same feature in virtue of which she is owed the respect that constrains how she may be treated. Even though someone who fails to attempt to protect her rational nature fails to respect herself, and even though this moral failing does make her lose a certain kind of value, her obligations to respect herself remain.

Je soutiens que le fait de manquer au devoir kantien de protéger sa propre nature rationnelle pourrait vicier les instances futures de ce devoir. Pour éviter cette conclusion, je soutiens, contrairement au consensus établi parmi les spécialistes de Kant, que la caractéristique qui confère à une personne sa valeur inconditionnelle et incomparable n’est pas la même que celle en vertu de laquelle cette personne mérite le respect qui délimite le traitement qui lui est dû. Bien qu’une personne manquant à son devoir de protéger sa nature rationnelle ne se respecte pas, et bien que cet échec moral lui fasse perdre un certain type de valeur, ses obligations au respect de soi demeurent.

Type
Articles
Information
Dialogue: Canadian Philosophical Review / Revue canadienne de philosophie , Volume 51 , Issue 4 , December 2012 , pp. 587 - 612
Copyright
Copyright © Canadian Philosophical Association 2012 

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