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4 - Four Concepts of Dignity

from Part I - The Contours of Dignitarian Humanism

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  24 September 2021

Colin Bird
Affiliation:
University of Virginia
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Summary

Chapter 3 described, in schematic form, the basic contours of the dignitarian humanist ideas latent in much contemporary political philosophy. It tried to highlight where those ideas hold promise as well as the outstanding challenges they face as vehicles of political criticism. This chapter develops a fourfold typology of dignity concepts that will allow us to consider how dignitarians might best meet those challenges. The typology teases out, from our ordinary notions of dignity, several contrasting ways in which dignitarian metaphors can work. Doing this will enable us to bring into sharper focus traditional accounts of human dignity that construe it as an inherent trait of persons to which respect is the appropriate response while creating space for the revisionist alternative that I will later elaborate and partly defend.

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Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2021

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  • Four Concepts of Dignity
  • Colin Bird, University of Virginia
  • Book: Human Dignity and Political Criticism
  • Online publication: 24 September 2021
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781108937597.005
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  • Four Concepts of Dignity
  • Colin Bird, University of Virginia
  • Book: Human Dignity and Political Criticism
  • Online publication: 24 September 2021
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781108937597.005
Available formats
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  • Four Concepts of Dignity
  • Colin Bird, University of Virginia
  • Book: Human Dignity and Political Criticism
  • Online publication: 24 September 2021
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781108937597.005
Available formats
×