Includes bibliographical references and index.

Human dignity from a legal perspective / Roger Brownsword -- Human dignity: concept, discussions, philosophical perspectives / Marcus Düwell -- Meritocratic and civic dignity in Greco-Roman antiquity / Josiah Ober -- Human dignity in the Middle Ages (twelfth to fourteenth century) / Ruedi Imbach -- Human dignity in late-medieval spiritual and political conflicts / Dietmar Mieth -- Human dignity in Renaissance humanism / Piet Steenbakker -- The Council of Valladolid (1550-1551): a European disputation about the human dignity of indigenous peoples of the Americas / Lars Kirkhusmo Pharo -- Martin Luther's conception of human dignity / Oswald Bayer -- Natural rights versus human dignity: two conflicting traditions / Pauline C. Westerman -- Rousseau and human dignity / Theo Verbeek -- Human dignity and socialism / Georg Lohmann -- Human dignity in the Jewish tradition / Yair Lorberbaum.

The concepts of human dignity in moral philosophies of indigenous peoples of the Americas / Lars Kirkhusmo Pharo -- Human dignity in the Islamic world / Miklâos Marâoth -- Hinduism : the universal self in a class society / Jens Braarvig -- Buddhism: inner dignity and absolute altruism / Jens Braarvig -- Human dignity in traditional Chinese Confucianism / Luo An'Xian -- Dignity in traditional Chinese Daoism / Qiao Qing-Ju -- Social and cultural presuppositions for the use of the concept of human dignity / Gesa Lindemann -- Is human dignity the ground of human rights? / Govert Den Hartogh -- Human dignity: can a historical foundation alone suffice? From Joas' affirmative genealogy to Kierkegaard's leap of faith / Christoph Hübenthal -- Kantian perspectives on the rational basis of human dignity / Thomas E. Hill, Jr -- Kantian dignity: a critique / Samuel J. Kerstein -- Human dignity and human rights in Alan Gewirth's moral philosophy / Deryck Beyleveld -- Human dignity in the capability approach / Rutger Claassen -- Human dignity in Catholic thought / David Hollenbach, SJ -- Jacques Maritain's personalist conception of human dignity / Paul Valadier -- Scheler and human dignity / Zachary Davis.

Dignity and the other: dignity and the phenomenological tradition / Peter Atterton -- Dignity, fragility, singularity in Paul Ricoeur's ethics / Maureen Junker-Kenny -- Human dignity as universal nobility / Christian Neuhèauser and Ralf Stoecker -- Dignity in the Ubuntu tradition / Thaddeus Metz -- Posthuman dignity / Martin G. Weiss -- Dignity as the right to have rights: human dignity in Hannah Arendt / Christoph Menke -- Individual and collective dignity / Micha Werner -- Equal dignity in international human rights / Bas de Gaay Fortman -- Is human dignity a useless concept? Legal perspectives / Judge Christian Byk -- Human dignity in French law / Stâephanie Hennette-Vauchez -- Human dignity in German law / Horst Dreier -- Human dignity in US law / Carter Snead -- Human dignity in South American law / Claudia Lima and Lucas Lixinski -- Human dignity in South African law / Anton Fagan.

The Islamic world and the alternative declarations of human rights / Ann Elizabeth Mayer -- The protection of human dignity under Chinese law / Perry Keller -- Human dignity in Japanese law / Shigenori Matsui -- The place of dignity in the Indian constitution / Upendra Baxi -- Human dignity and war / Andreas Hasenclever -- Treatment of prisoners and torture / David Luban -- Human dignity and prostitution / Norbert Campagna -- Human dignity, immigration and refugees / Gèoran Collste -- Human dignity and social welfare / Klaus Steigleder -- Dignity and global justice / Thomas Pogge -- Human dignity and people with disabilities / Sigrid Graumann -- Human dignity as a concept for the economy / Elizabeth Anderson -- Human dignity and gender inequalities / Annika Thiem -- The rise and fall of freedom of online expression / Mathias Klang -- The threefold challenge of Darwinism to an ethics of human dignity / Christian Illies -- On the border of life and death: human dignity in bioethics / Marcus Dèuwell -- Human dignity and commodification in bioethics / Alastair V. Campbell -- Dignity only for humans? A controversy / Robert Heeger -- Dignity only for humans? On the dignity and inherent value of non-human beings / Peter Schaber -- Human dignity and future generations / Marcus Düwell.

"This introduction to human dignity explores the history of the notion from antiquity to the nineteenth century, and the way in which dignity is conceptualised in non-Western contexts. Building on this, it addresses a range of systematic conceptualisations, considers the theoretical and legal conditions for human dignity as a useful notion and analyses a number of philosophical and conceptual approaches to dignity. Finally, the book introduces current debates, paying particular attention to the legal implementation, human rights, justice and conflicts, medicine and bioethics, and provides an explicit systematic framework for discussing human dignity. Adopting a wide range of perspectives and taking into account numerous cultures and contexts, this handbook is a valuable resource for students, scholars and professionals working in philosophy, law, history and theology"--

"Human Dignity was established in 1948 as the foundational concept of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR). The Preamble to the Declaration opens with the statement: 'Whereas recognition of the inherent dignity and of the equal and inalienable rights of all members of the human family is the foundation of freedom, justice and peace in the world....' In Article 1, we read: 'All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. They are endowed with reason and conscience and should act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood.' And, in 1966, the United Nations declared: 'These [human] rights derive from the inherent dignity of the human person' . During the preparation of the Declaration (1946-1948) , there were discussions about whether there was a need for such a foundational concept and, if so, which notion that should be Choosing human dignity immediately after the war was a statement against the Shoah, against totalitarianism, and against the atrocities of World War II. However, by choosing Human Dignity, a concept was selected that has an impressive history in various traditions. The stoic philosopher Cicero saw it as a central requirement of a virtuous life that one should behave in a way that is appropriate to the dignity of a human being; and, famously, for Immanuel Kant, the dignity of the human person is at the centre of his moral philosophy"--