The author, Michael Rosen, is a British political philosopher who is currently a professor at Harvard University. The book evolved from a series of lectures he produced about dignity. He comments that it is a matter of regret that philosophy these days is not accessible to the general reader, especially as ‘philosophical issues press on us whether we like it or not’. My comprehensive school, university and postgraduate education was sadly lacking in any such philosophy education, so it was with interest, as a philosophy novice, that I read this informative book. In trying to reach a wider audience, the author favoured an informal approach to attempt to bridge the gap between philosophy and the general reader. That he achieves with a conversational writing style while still explaining some basic tenets of philosophy.

This short book comprises three chapters considering the historical evolution of the concept of dignity, legislation of dignity (concentrating mainly on the German courts) and the ‘duty to humanity’. The historical review traces the meanings of the term dignity from biblical times to its modern-day use. It discusses contemporary dignity issues using varied examples, such as President Ahmadinejad of Iran's fondness for the discourse of dignity (including an interesting letter to the German Chancellor Angela Merkel), football managers, various popes, and dwarf-tossing (a case at the European Court)! The author notes that the word dignity has become central to contemporary political and ethical discussion and is central to human rights discourse, having been embedded in numerous constitutions, internationalconventions and declarations. It plays a vital role in the United Nations' Universal Declaration of Human Rights from the 1940s, where the very first sentence of Article 1 reads ‘All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and human rights’. Interestingly, although acknowledged as a concept underpinning the European Convention on Human Rights, dignity is not actually mentioned within it. Despite this, Professor Rosen acknowledges that some authors feel that dignity is a useless or even redundant concept and one subsumed by autonomy.

There are plenty of controversial and thought-provoking passages, such as when considering the issue of suicide, including the permissibility of suicide and the right of a person to end their own life, and discussion on the right of an individual to choose to behave in an undignified way as a corollary to the State's positive duty of having to protect ‘the dignity of the human person’.

Human rights can be a nebulous concept for many – people invariably know they have them but most are unsure as to what they are, or how they affect reality. The author finds this situation ‘deeply puzzling’. Although not clinically based, this is a very readable book. Philosophy novices such as myself, those interested in human rights issues, or the intellectually curious will find this book of interest. By the end the reader will have a more in-depth understanding of dignity as a rank or status, as an inherent value unique to humans, a behaviour or character that is dignified, or the idea that people should be treated with dignity and accorded respect.