The Human Rights Tradition

and the Emergence of

Human Dignity as a Legal Principle
‘SECULARIZATION OF ELITISM’
IGNITY

UNIVERSALLY VALID PRINCIPLE

NORMATIVE
Human Rights

Derived from the inherent dignity

of the human person.
– the foundation of freedom, justice
and peace.
– A basic principle.
HUMAN RIGHTS TRADITION
explicitly adopts a universalist stand.
Dignity violated through…

Torture mass murder

slavery
deprivation of rights
genocide
Mass expulsion forced labor
experiments on
terror human beings
LAW
Practice and interpretation.
 Legal Principle of Human Dignity itself is
not ambiguous.
inherent obligation to universalism

But in practice and in the way it is interpreted,

elitist components sometimes come to
dominate.
Who is to count as a human person?
Everyone agrees that human dignity should be
protected, but there is no common consensus as to -
who are the persons to whom human dignity is
attributed
who is worthy of protection
 French bioethicial laws rely on the
practical assumption that it is
unclear who possess human dignity.
Is a person defined by
consciousness alone?
 Elitists and
Universalists.
Habermasian and Rawisian elitists
Consciousness or expressed
preferences are the conditions
sine qua non for humanity.
The Principle of Dignity and the
Juridical Concept of Dignity
 Elitist layer of human dignity
Universalist layer of human dignity

Possession of autonomy
Being human
 The Principle of Dignity
the one affirmed by the Human rights tradition
A legal commitment to a moral ideal which is
explicitly universalist, endorsed for the purpose of
preserving peace

‘principle’
A legal principle
 In the perfect society the
juridical concept of human dignity
would flow from the
basic principle of human dignity.
 People committing suicide
Existence- a means to achieve certain
desirable states of being
Extinction of existence- a means to
escape condition which are
undesirable
“the non-pathological suicide is the most
fundamental violation of human dignity”
Assisted suicide, euthanasia
 In the perfect society the
juridical concept of human dignity
would flow from the
basic principle of human dignity.

Even if suicide is a violation of

the principle of human dignity,
it may not be demonstrated to be a violation
of the legal concept of dignity.
Juridical Concept of dignity

A right possessed over and

against others, and not
over against oneself
 It is not in the interpretation of the juridical
concept which determines the meaning of the
principle
Autonomy is the core and summit of the human person. Yet
it has foundation in the individual rational nature of every
personal being and it is to this being that dignity applies.
 Conclusion
• Juridical concept of human dignity
– Dependent upon the existent
interpretations and current language use
– Anchored in an explicit universalist
commitment by Human rights tradition
– Easily slipping back into elitism
 Conclusion
• Dignity identified with autonomy
–No longer seen as being inherent in
the nature of the human being
 Conclusion
• Human dignity as a right over and
against others
–An intrinsic limitation of the legal
discourse
 Conclusion

For the principle of human dignity

to be truly universal, It must
apply equally to all.