A Defense of Human Dignity (original) (raw)

2000, Faith and Philosophy

The traditional doctrine of human dignity has fallen on hard times. It is said that that doctrine is "speciesist to the core" and "the moral effluvium of a discredited metaphysics." Those of us who would defend the view that humans enjoy greater moral standing than nonhuman living things must answer the question, "What's so special about humans?" In this paper, I argue that moral agency is a great-making property that confers special worth on its bearer. I Renaissance humanism never had a more enthusiastic spokesperson than the young intellectual, Giovanni Pico della Mirandola (1463-1494). According to Pico, "Man is the most fortunate creature and thus worthy of all admiration." He is "to be envied not only by the beasts, but also by the stars, and the Intelligences beyond this world." "To him it was granted to have whatever he chooses, to be whatever he wills. "I Pico was seldom known for restraint in his intellectual endeavors, and he may have allowed himself to get a little carried away. Indeed, Pope Innocent VIII-a human himself-suggested that Pico tone things down a bit. What this precocious young Florentine professed on paper, a younger Florentine contemporary would say just a few years later in marble. Michelangelo'S David also

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