Is dignity a useless concept?

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Published: Jan 28, 2021
DOI: https://doi.org/10.12681/ethiki.25983
Keywords:
Dignity; Autonomy; Human rights; Primarily and secondarily evaluative terms; Bioethics; Ruth Macklin; Immanuel Kant; Evaluative Terms
Eleni Kalokairinou
Aristotle University of Thessaloniki
https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1486-2819
Abstract

In this paper I undertake to examine Ruth Macklin’s claim that dignity is a useless concept. I explain her contention by the fact that dignity, as a concept, has a long history and has been presented differently at different times. I shed some light
on certain different conceptions of dignity in ancient times and in our contemporary
era. And I end up with the suggestion that the term “dignified”, like “good”, is a primarily evaluative term, unlike what some philosophers have thought.

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