submitted by Judith Neal @edgewalkers

This is an essay by Remy Debes, associate professor of philosophy at the University of Memphis and the editor of The Southern Journal of Philosophy. He is the editor of Dignity: A History (2017). His new monograph (in progress) is entitled, Respect as Understanding.

A discussion on what dignity is and how we think about it is important to humanistic management professionals as – our attempts to ensure that dignity is recognized in the workplace – for our employees, customers and the communities in which we work – rests upon this concept.

From the essay:

“Human dignity is a concept with remarkably shallow historical roots. Is that why it is so presently endangered?”

“Even if the idea of human dignity is more tenuous than we’ve hitherto realised, there might be a silver lining to this admission. Namely, that the idea is yet malleable – open for reasonable debate and development. In other words, perhaps it is still up to us to say what this basic moral status is or entails, as well as what it is about being human that makes it true we have this status.”

https://aeon.co/essays/human-dignity-is-an-ideal-with-remarkably-shallow-roots