Human Dignity

by George Kateb

We often speak of the dignity owed to a person. And dignity is a word that regularly appears in political speeches. Charters are promulgated in its name, and appeals to it are made when people all over the world struggle to achieve their rights. But what exactly is dignity? When one person physically assaults another, we feel the wrong demands immediate condemnation and legal sanction. Whereas when one person humiliates or thoughtlessly makes use of another, we recognize the wrong and hope for a remedy, but the social response is less clear. The injury itself may be hard to quantify. Given our concern with human dignity, it is odd that it has received comparatively little scrutiny. Here, George Kateb asks what human dignity is and why it matters for the claim to rights. He proposes that dignity is an “existential” value that pertains to the identity of a person as a human being. To injure or even to try to efface someone’s dignity is to treat that person as not human or less than human—as a thing or instrument or subhuman creature. Kateb does not limit the notion of dignity to individuals but extends it to the human species. The dignity of the human species rests on our uniqueness among all other species. In the book’s concluding section, he argues that despite the ravages we have inflicted on it, nature would be worse off without humanity. The supremely fitting task of humanity can be seen as a “stewardship” of nature. This secular defense of human dignity—the first book-length attempt of its kind—crowns the career of a distinguished political thinker.

Genres: Philosophy, Politics, Nonfiction

256 pages, Hardcover

First published January 3, 2011

About the author

George Kateb is William Nelson Cromwell Professor of Politics, Emeritus, at Princeton University. A staunch individualist, he has written scholarly works on Ralph Waldo Emerson, John Stuart Mill, and Hannah Arendt and on the ethical dimensions of the individual in a constitutional democracy.

Reviews

[Jesus · Rating 5 out of 5]

The problem with this book is that its only 217 pages. Other than that, we can all use this book. Not only for the thought but for the actuality that we find ourselves in.

[Clara! · Rating 4 out of 5]

It was all right.

[Jonathan · Rating 5 out of 5]

I didn't agree with everything Kateb says here, particularly the conceit that humans are "partially not natural." But this book will stay with me for a long time, there is a lot to think about here and Kateb has certainly put in the thought. Not an easy book, by any stretch of the imagination, but less jargony and clearer writing than many books of philosophy. I am glad I read this, and having done so makes me feel like a fuller human.

Highly recommend.

[Mattius Padney · Rating 1 out of 5]

Kateb's arguments to secure Human Dignity are not only weak but proposed on the backs of animals. This book is filled with secular humanist dogmatism which adds little to an already satured discussion.

[Sarah · Rating 2 out of 5]

Book club. This really stretched me and I appreciated it but his justification for human dignity is weak.