Summerschool Health law and ethics Erasmus University Rotterdam, July 2009 Human dignity and human rights Article 3 1.Human dignity, human rights and fundamental

Summerschool Health law and ethics

Erasmus University Rotterdam, July 2009

Human dignity and human rights

Article 3

1. Human dignity, human rights and fundamental freedoms are to be fully respected

2. The interests and welfare of the individual should have priority over the sole interest of science or society

Principle

Basic value: starting point for moral justification

Action-guide: most significant directive for action

principium

princeps

Principles are theoretical concepts but also practical guidelines

Value theory What is a value?

1. Instrumental value

Usefulness of utility for a particular purpose; value derived from something else

2. Personal value

Dependent on the subjective wishes and valuations of an individual; value derived from the attributions by a specific person

3. Intrinsic value

Independent from what human beings wish and desire, and independent from they can do with it

Value theory What is a value?

1. Instrumental value

Usefulness of utility for a particular purpose; value derived from something else

2. Personal value

Dependent on the subjective wishes and valuations of an individual; value derived from the attributions by a specific person

3. Intrinsic value

Independent from what human beings wish and desire, and independent from they can do with it

money

soccer games

Van Gogh painting

EXAMPLES

Concept of human dignity

• Primary ground for patient’s rights

e.g. to be informed, to make decisions, to do last things

• Source of insistence that people receive proper respect and consideration

Useful concept:

… especially in three contexts- Beginning of life (abortion)

- End of life (intensive care, care of demented elderly, palliative care, euthanasia)

- Human reproduction (cloning)

Noëlle Lenoir: aim of bioethics is to protect what is inherent human dignity against the misuse of technological development


‘dignity’: the quality of being worthy of esteem or respect

Two dimensions:

1. Outstanding position of a person in society

- quality of being a worthy or honorable person in society; virtue (~ concept of honor)

- intersubjective, public recognition

2. Intrinsic value of the humanity of the person

- the human being has dignity in itself as a bearer of rights and duties

Personal value

Instrumental value

- can be acquired- can be awarded

Intrinsic value

- is always there and is inalienable


Evolution of the concept

Cultural and social contextof

Virtue and Honor

Universalised as intrinsic value and

moral responsibility ofevery human being

e.g. Ancient Rome (Cicero)e.g. Stoic philosophy

e.g. Christianity (imago Dei)

e.g. Constitution of countries (Canada, Sweden, Germany)

e.g. Charter of the United Nations


Why is human dignity an intrinsic value?

• special position of the human being within creation: reflecting the dignity of God

• rationality; human being’s consciousness and ability to think

Blaise Pascal: Thoughts

“Man is but a reed, the most feeble thing in nature, but he is a thinking reed. The entire universe need not arm itself to crush him. A vapour, a drop of water suffices to kill him, But, if the universe were to crush him, man would still be more noble than that which killed him, because he knows that he dies and the advantage which the universe has over him; the universe knows nothing of this. All our dignity consists then in thought”




• rationality

• perfectibility: human being is different from other creatures because it is not fixed; he is free to decide his own way of life

Pico della Mirandola: Oration on the dignity of man

The nature of all other beings is limited and constrained within the bounds of laws prescribed by Us. Thou, constrained by no limits, in accordance with thine free will, in whose hand We placed thee, shalt ordain for thyself the limits of thy nature.

Human unfixedness = Faculty of improvement (Rousseau) = never-ending human progress = perfectibility of man (Condorcet)




• rationality

• perfectibility

• autonomy: human being is the creator of values and norms

Immanuel Kant: Groundwork of the Metaphysics of Morals

Concept of moral self-legislation;

Autonomy is therefore the ground of the dignity of human nature and of every rational nature


The universalisation of the concept of human dignity

19th century: socio-political application of the term human dignity

20th century: legal status

- Constitutions

- Charter of the United Nations

- Universal Declaration of Human Rights, 1948

Article 1

All human beings are born free, equal in dignity and human rights. They are endowed with reason and conscience and should act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood

Political context: all biological and historical differentiations among men as unreal or irrelevant


Conclusions

a. Term ‘human dignity’ involves concentration upon the distinctive nature of human personal life. Human dignity is the very essence of humanity.

b. Human dignity demands recognition of the equality of all human beings. All people have the same dignity.

c. Mutual recognition of dignity leads to the recognition of equal rights, i.e. generally acknowledged human rights.

Documents

Summerschool Health law and ethics Erasmus University Rotterdam, July 2009 Human dignity and human rights Article 3 1.Human dignity, human rights and fundamental