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Human dignity in concept and practice

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Abstract

Dignity seems to be something that virtually all people want. It is a seminal expression of the human experience that gains authority through the convergent demands of people worldwide. Even so, the human dignity concept is in unhelpful disarray. Dignity is variously viewed as an antecedent, a consequence, a value, a principle, and an experience, from philosophical, legal, pragmatic, psychological, behavioral, and cultural perspectives. We ask which if any of these human dignity concepts will likely serve our global common interests best, as both common ground and policy diagnostic? We examine four broad themes: dignity as (1) a metaphysical justification for human rights and duties, (2) virtuous comportment or behavior, (3) a perspective of “other,” and (4) a subjective experience of the individual, contingent on a broad and equitable sharing of values. We recommend viewing dignity as a commonwealth of individually assessed well-being, shaped by relationships with others, affected by the physical world, and framed in terms of values. Viewed this way, the idea of dignity accommodates the priorities of both individualistic and communitarian cultures. Conceiving of human dignity as a commonwealth of subjectively experienced value production and enjoyment has many practical policy implications.

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Acknowledgments

Ronald Brunner, Denise Casey, Andrew Willard, and David Cherney reviewed this manuscript and provided helpful even inspiring input. An anonymous reviewer helped us clarify our writing and thinking about human dignity. The communities of scholars and students at the Yale School of Forestry and Environmental Studies and the MIT Department of Urban Studies and Planning also played a major role in shaping our perspectives. Kate Kitchell and Mark Sogge of the US Geological Survey supported this work, realizing its relevance even to a bureau focused on biological research.

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  1. US Geological Survey, Southwest Biological Science Center, Colorado Plateau Research Station, Northern Arizona University, P.O. Box 5614, Flagstaff, AZ, 86011, USA

    David J. Mattson

  2. School of Forestry and Environmental Studies and Institution for Social and Policy Studies, Yale University, 301 Prospect St., New Haven, CT, 06511, USA

    Susan G. Clark

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Mattson, D.J., Clark, S.G. Human dignity in concept and practice. Policy Sci 44, 303–319 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11077-010-9124-0

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