The Cambridge Handbook of Human Dignity: Interdisciplinary Perspectives

Description

This introduction to human dignity explores the history of the notion from antiquity to the nineteenth century, and the way in which dignity is conceptualised in non-Western contexts. Building on this, it addresses a range of systematic conceptualisations, considers the theoretical and legal conditions for human dignity as a useful notion and analyses a number of philosophical and conceptual approaches to dignity. Finally, the book introduces current debates, paying particular attention to the legal implementation, human rights, justice and conflicts, medicine and bioethics, and provides an explicit systematic framework for discussing human dignity. Adopting a wide range of perspectives and taking into account numerous cultures and contexts, this handbook is a valuable resource for students, scholars and professionals working in philosophy, law, history and theology.

Marcus Duwell is Professor of Philosophical Ethics and Research Director of the Ethics Institute at Utrecht University, The Netherlands. Jens Braarvig is Professor of Religious Studies at the University of Oslo, Norway. Roger Brownsword is Professor of Law at King's College London. He is also an honorary Professor in Law at the University of Sheffield and a visiting professor at Singapore Management University. Dietmar Mieth is Professor (Emeritus) of Theological Ethics and Social Ethics at the University of Tubingen, Germany.

'This is a publication which meets, to a considerable extent, its ambitious interdisciplinary aims. This being the case, the edited collection is certainly recommended to the researcher of the concept of human dignity, as an excellent starting point for one's interdisciplinary academic endeavours in the area. The work is thus deemed an indispensable academic tool for one's initial theoretical exploration of the concept of dignity.' Antonios E. Platsas, The International Journal of Human Rights