Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- List of contributors
- Foreword
- Why a handbook on human dignity?
- Acknowledgments
- 1 Human dignity from a legal perspective
- 2 Human dignity: concepts, discussions, philosophical perspectives
- Part I Origins of the concept in European history
- 3 Meritocratic and civic dignity in Greco-Roman antiquity
- 4 Human dignity in the Middle Ages (twelfth to fourteenth century)
- 5 Human dignity in late-medieval spiritual and political conflicts
- 6 Human dignity in Renaissance humanism
- 7 The Council of Valladolid (1550–1551): a European disputation about the human dignity of indigenous peoples of the Americas
- 8 Martin Luther's conception of human dignity
- 9 Natural rights versus human dignity: two conflicting traditions
- 10 Rousseau and human dignity
- 11 Human dignity and socialism
- 12 Human dignity in the Jewish tradition
- Part II Beyond the scope of the European tradition
- Part III Systematic conceptualization
- Part IV Legal implementation
- Part V Conflicts and violence
- Part VI Contexts of justice
- Part VII Biology and bioethics
- Appendix 1 Further reading
- Appendix 2 Universal Declaration of Human Rights
- Index
- References
12 - Human dignity in the Jewish tradition
from Part I - Origins of the concept in European history
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 05 March 2015
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- List of contributors
- Foreword
- Why a handbook on human dignity?
- Acknowledgments
- 1 Human dignity from a legal perspective
- 2 Human dignity: concepts, discussions, philosophical perspectives
- Part I Origins of the concept in European history
- 3 Meritocratic and civic dignity in Greco-Roman antiquity
- 4 Human dignity in the Middle Ages (twelfth to fourteenth century)
- 5 Human dignity in late-medieval spiritual and political conflicts
- 6 Human dignity in Renaissance humanism
- 7 The Council of Valladolid (1550–1551): a European disputation about the human dignity of indigenous peoples of the Americas
- 8 Martin Luther's conception of human dignity
- 9 Natural rights versus human dignity: two conflicting traditions
- 10 Rousseau and human dignity
- 11 Human dignity and socialism
- 12 Human dignity in the Jewish tradition
- Part II Beyond the scope of the European tradition
- Part III Systematic conceptualization
- Part IV Legal implementation
- Part V Conflicts and violence
- Part VI Contexts of justice
- Part VII Biology and bioethics
- Appendix 1 Further reading
- Appendix 2 Universal Declaration of Human Rights
- Index
- References
Summary
The Hebrew counterpart to the expression ‘human dignity’ – kevod ha-adam – hardly exists in classical Jewish sources. This expression entered the Hebrew language and Jewish-Israeli culture in modern times due to the influence of modern European structures of thought. Thus, for example, Israel's Basic Law: Human Dignity (kevod ha-adam) and Freedom (ve-heruto) was enacted by the Israeli parliament (Knesset) in 1992.
The term ‘kavod’ appears in the Hebrew Bible several hundred times, and even more so in Talmudic literature. Its root is probably in the word ‘kaved’, ‘heavy’, which also means substance (or concrete/physical presence). The core meaning of the term ‘kavod’ is social honour or dignity, but it may also mean wealth, glory, greatness and splendour. Thus, the Hebrew Bible uses it to signify God's presence or substance (kevod YHWH, for example Exodus 16:7), or there are such Rabbinic sayings as: ‘All that God created in His world He did not create but for His own glory (li-khevodo)’ (m. Avot 6:11).
- Type
- Chapter
- Information
- The Cambridge Handbook of Human DignityInterdisciplinary Perspectives, pp. 135 - 144Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2014
References
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