DIGNITY, Jithin Jose

Dignity is a term used in moral, ethical, and political discussions to signify that a being has an innate right to respect and ethical treatment. It is an extension of the enlightnment-era concepts of inherent, inalienable rights. Dignity is generally proscriptive and cautionary: for example in politics it is usually used to critique the treatment of oppressed and vulnerable groups and peoples, but it has also been extended to apply to cultures and sub-cultures, religious beliefs and ideals, animals used for food or research, and even plants.

The English word "dignity" comes from Latin dignitas. In ordinary usage it denotes respect and status, and it is often used to suggest that someone is not receiving a proper degree of respect, or even that they are failing to treat themselves with proper self-respect. There is also a long history of special philosophical use of this term. However, it is rarely defined outright in political, legal, and scientific discussions. International proclamations have thus far left dignity undefined, and scientific commentators, such as those arguing against genetic research and algeny, cite dignity as a reason but are ambiguous about its application.

Human dignity is a central consideration of Protestantism and catholicism. The insists the catechism of the catholic church "dignity of the human person is rooted in his or her creation in the image and likenessof God." "All human beings," says the Church, "in as much as they are created in the image of God, have the dignity of a person." The catechism says, "The right to the exercise of freedom belongs to everyone because it is inseparable from his or her dignity as a human person." The Catholic Church's view of human dignity is like Kant's in so far as it springs from human agency and free will, with the further understanding that free will in turn springs from human creation in the image of God.

An  view of dignity was set out by Mhammad-Ali Taskhiri, head of the Islamic Culture and Communications Organization in iran, in 1994. According to Taskhiri, dignity is a state to which all humans have equal potential, but which can only be actualized by living a religious life pleasing to the eyes of God. This is in keeping with the 1990 Cairo Declaration on Human Rights in  Islam which states that "True faith is the guarantee for enhancing such [basic human] dignity along the path to human perfection".