LESSON 1

• Human Dignity

  • It is the inherent worth or intrinsic value of the human person
• Immanuel Kant (1724-1804)

  • A German philosopher who is recognized as one of the preeminent Enlightenment philosophers.
  • His works are considered among the foundational sources for Western ideas of human dignity and human rights.
  • "Every man is to be respected as an absolute end in himself; and it is a crime against the dignity that belongs to him as a human being to use him as a mere means for some external purpose."
• Human Dignity

  • It is never granted or endowed.
  • It can never be lost.
  • In Christian philosophy and theology, human dignity is grounded on being created in the image and likeness of God (imago Dei).
• Human Dignity

  • The core idea of human dignity is that on earth, humanity is the greatest type of beings-or what we call species because we have learned to see humanity as one species in the animal kingdom, which is made up of many other species along with our own.
  • -and that every member deserves to be treated in a manner consonant with the high worth of the species (Kateb, 2011).
• Human Dignity

  • It is the foundation of human rights.
  • Ronald Dworkin (1977) said that the very idea of human rights depends upon the vague but powerful idea of human dignity.
  • It is the moral heart of human rights (Gilabert 2014).
• Human Dignity

  • Being a human is the foundation of the notion of human dignity.
  • We respect the right because we recognize human dignity.
  • We do not bestow dignity to the extent that we bestow human rights.
  • Human beings have rights that must be respected because of the value they have by virtue of being the kind of things that the are. (Sulamsy).
• Concept of Humanness

  • The humanness of the human person has two distinct senses:
  • (a) the human uniqueness which contrasts human with animals, and,
  • (b) the human nature which contrasts human with inanimate objects (Haslam, 2006).
• Human acts and acts of man

  Two acts of the human person contrasted by St. Thomas Aquinas
• Freedom of the human person

  Radical view proclaimed by French existentialist philosopher Jean Paul Sartre
• Human acts and acts of man

  Two acts of the human person contrasted by St. Thomas Aquinas
• Freedom of the human person

  Radical view proclaimed by French existentialist philosopher Jean Paul Sartre
• Human dignity


  The inherent worth or intrinsic value of the human person
• Immanuel Kant: 'Every man is to be respected as an absolute end in himself; and it is a crime against the dignity that belongs to him as a human being to use him as a mere means for some external purpose.'
• Human dignity


  • It is the foundation of human rights
  • It is never granted or endowed
  • It can never be lost
• Imago Dei


  In Christian philosophy and theology, human dignity is grounded on being created in the image and likeness of God
• Being somebody; being a human is the foundation of the notion of human dignity
• The humanness of the human person has two distinct senses: a) the human uniqueness which contrasts human with animals, and b) the human nature which contrasts human with inanimate objects
• The denial of the human essence threatens human dignity, as seen in horrendous acts of dehumanization such as the Holocaust, Rwandan Genocide, Armenian Genocide and Cambodian Genocide
• The concept of human dignity also obstructs the objectification of the human body and human person, i.e., in unconsented human experiment, and in rejective and differentiated treatment of certain group of peoples such as those ageing and suffering from unusual and rare diseases
• Freedom (or liberty)


  A fundamental component of our human identity and one which separates us from other animals
• Freedom


  • Being able to originate an act from within ourselves, being self-determined, not other determined
  • The ability of humans to act on their own power without any form of compulsion
• Human acts (actus humanus)

  Freely and consciously chosen, intelligent, intentional and voluntary acts. Its essential qualities are knowledge of the fact, freedom and voluntariness. Responsibility attaches to human acts.
• Acts of man (actus hominis)


  Instinctive acts which are not dependent on free will or intellect. These are actions of humans as animals. It is not subject to morality (amoral) and responsibility.
• Free will


  The ability to act or not to act, in one way or another
• Freedom of exercise


  The ability to act or not to act
• Freedom of specification


  The ability to act one way or another
• Jean Paul Sartre: 'The human person "cannot be sometimes slave and sometimes free; he is wholly and forever free or he is not free at all."<|>"Man is condemned to be free; because once thrown into the world, he is responsible for everything he does."'
• Humans are "thrown into this world and thus, there are situations and circumstances that surround or make us without us choosing them as part of our self and our identity, such as our parents and sociocultural backgrounds
• Freedom entails anguish, guilt over the consequences and outcomes of our choices and actions/inactions. Thus, freedom entails responsibility.
• Humans have free choice. We can direct our lives based on how we wish it to be. We are ultimately responsible for our own, personal lives.
• Free choice involves consciousness. By being conscious, we are free to decide; and by being free to decide, we are responsible.