The Hermeneutics of Dignity (original) (raw)

The concept of human dignity contains a complex set of interwoven, often implicit meanings in the history of modern morality. They are only accessible when its narrative structure is acknowledged. In this article I use the metaphor of an old master’s canvas, painted in several layers, in order to condense the historical dimension of the narrative in a composed image. I distinguish four layers of meaning, and depict them subsequently as (1)general Menschenwürde, (2) social status and desert, (3) personal identity and inner freedom, and (4) as splendor. I further assume that ‘dignity’ does not express an objective essence of individuals, but a relationship rooted in social practices. Dignity is not a ‘value’, understood as an abstract ideal, but the moral qualification of concrete practices of social recognition. The Biblical narrative of the Good Samaritan exemplifies this relational dimension of dignity in a paradigmatic way, as I show in a phenomenological analysis of its relational dynamics. Shared acknowledgement of the vulnerability of humanness invites to mutual recognition of possible goodness amidst suffering. If human dignity had to be defined instead of told, this last formula would be a suitable candidate.