Human Dignity: Perspectives from a Critical Theory of Human Rights

Description

Connecting three generations of critical theorists, this edited collection focuses on the mutual complementarity between the concept of "human dignity" and the theory and practice of human rights. Human dignity has recently emerged as a controversial theme in the philosophy of human rights and has become the subject of a growing debate involving theological, political, juridical, moral, and biomedical perspectives. Previously, interpretations of this concept took for granted specific definitions of this term without accounting for the perspective offered by a "Critical Theory of Human Rights." This interdisciplinary perspective relies on a tradition that goes from Immanuel Kant to Jürgen Habermas, influences new generations, and sheds more light on how human dignity is used (and abused) in contemporary discourses. Based on this tradition, the contributors sustain an engaged discussion of the topic and address issues such as domination, colonialism, multiculturalism, globalization, and cosmopolitanism. Informed by different contexts, each author offers a unique contribution to distinctive aspects of the necessary internal correlation between human dignity and human rights. This book will be of interest to students and researchers in human rights in Europe, North America, and Latin America and readers in the areas of political science, philosophy, sociology, law, and international relations. Cover Half Title Title Page Copyright Page Dedication Table of Contents List of contributors Preface Acknowledgments 1. Human dignity in the perspective of a Critical Theory of Human Rights 1. A critical tradition in human rights 2. The Frankfurt School and the question about human dignity 3. Critical Theory of Human Rights and human dignity 4. The justification of human rights by appealing to human dignity Notes References 2. Human dignity as a path to modernity in Ficino and Pico della Mirandola? 1. Ficino’s Platonic theology, complexities of ontology, and human dignity 2. Pico della Mirandola on human dignity: between liberty and desert 3. How modern are Ficino’s and Pico’s concepts of dignity? Notes References 3. Human rights and human dignity 1. The concept of human dignity in Kant 2. Kant’s philosophical contribution 3. Contemporary implications for the debates in bioethics and constitutional law Notes References 4. The concept of human dignity and the realistic utopia of human rights 1 2 3 Notes References 5. The ground of critique: On the concept of human dignity in social orders of justification 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Notes References 6. Should we take the “human” out of human rights? Human dignity in a corporate world 1. The debate between humanist and political conceptions of human rights 2. What functions does the concept of human dignity play in human rights practice? 3. The functions of human rights norms in light of the “human rights” of corporations 4. Jurisprudence of dignity: the last resort? Acknowledgments Notes References 7. Dignity, communicative freedom, and law 1. Introduction 2. Building the pedestal of dignity 3. Reflexive freedom 4. The legal orthopedics of human dignity Acknowledgments Notes References 8. Human dignity and plurality in justifications of human rights 1. Critical Theory as a point of departure 2. Avoiding extremes in human rights 3. Critical perspectives on human dignity and human rights 4. Plurality in justifications of human rights Notes References Index