Skip to main content Accessibility help
×
Hostname: page-component-77c89778f8-swr86 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-07-20T15:21:36.708Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

37 - Is human dignity a useless concept? Legal perspectives

from Part IV - Legal implementation

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  05 March 2015

Christian Byk
Affiliation:
Court of Appeal, Paris; and International Association of Law, Ethics, and Science (France)
Marcus Düwell
Affiliation:
Universiteit Utrecht, The Netherlands
Jens Braarvig
Affiliation:
Universitetet i Oslo
Roger Brownsword
Affiliation:
King's College London
Dietmar Mieth
Affiliation:
Eberhard-Karls-Universität Tübingen, Germany
Get access

Summary

If we consider that the concept of human dignity appeared only quite recently (after the Second World War) as a legal reference, we may have doubts regarding its utility. Why should we consider useful a concept which was legally non-existent since Roman legal reasoning? But we may interpret the question posed in the title of this chapter to raise another issue: what is the meaning of utility in a legal perspective? All lawyers – whether in the tradition of common law or civil law – know that the law uses concepts to create legal categories and to qualify facts and situations in order to incorporate them in the social theatre in which we all live. In that sense, the rationality of the law tends to have useful social meanings and does not need purely theoretical or metaphysical concepts because they cannot serve its main purpose: to maintain the organization of the society on the basis of legal norms. I understand that the vagueness and uncertainty of the concept of human dignity may create some trouble and disinterest in using it as a legal reference, especially for those who conceive of law as a practical exercise which aims at finding the appropriate answers to precise questions (discussed in the first section below). However, as a pragmatic lawyer, I have also to consider that the concept of human dignity is already present in international law as well as in different domestic legislation. Its appearance during the second part of the twentieth century should not be neglected in understanding the message sent by its introduction in law (discussed in the second section below).

Type
Chapter
Information
The Cambridge Handbook of Human Dignity
Interdisciplinary Perspectives
, pp. 362 - 367
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2014

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Bertrand, M. 2010. ‘La dignité, principe fondateur du droit’, Journal international de bioéthique 21(3): 77–83Google Scholar
Bioy, X. 2006. ‘La dignité: questions de principes’, in Pauliat, H. and Gaboriau, S. (eds.), Justice, ethique et dignité: cinquièmes entretiens d’Aguesseau. Limoges University Press, 47–86Google Scholar
Kant, I. 1998. Groundwork of the Metaphysics of Morals, trans. Gregor, M.. Cambridge University PressCrossRefGoogle Scholar
Raymond, J. F. 1988. Les enjeux des droits de l'homme. Paris: LarousseGoogle Scholar

Save book to Kindle

To save this book to your Kindle, first ensure coreplatform@cambridge.org is added to your Approved Personal Document E-mail List under your Personal Document Settings on the Manage Your Content and Devices page of your Amazon account. Then enter the ‘name’ part of your Kindle email address below. Find out more about saving to your Kindle.

Note you can select to save to either the @free.kindle.com or @kindle.com variations. ‘@free.kindle.com’ emails are free but can only be saved to your device when it is connected to wi-fi. ‘@kindle.com’ emails can be delivered even when you are not connected to wi-fi, but note that service fees apply.

Find out more about the Kindle Personal Document Service.

Available formats
×

Save book to Dropbox

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Dropbox.

Available formats
×

Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

Available formats
×