Postmodern Openings

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Understanding Human Dignity Redux


Antonio PELE

Postmodern Openings, 2012, Volume 3, Issue 3, September, pp: 21-34

The online version of this article can be found at:
http://postmodernopenings.com

Published by:
Lumen Publishing House
On behalf of:
Lumen Research Center in Social and Humanistic Sciences

Understanding Human Dignity Redux


Antonio PELE
1


Abstract:
Human dignity is currently defined as the grounding of human rights. In
order to understand this notion, it is possible to conceive it as a consequence of a
broader philosophical phenomenon: the construction of modern individualism. Thus,
this article aims to understand the connections between those two concepts, taking into
account the limits of such perspective.

Keywords:
Human dignity, human rights, individualism

1
Antonio PLLL Assistant Proessor in Legal Philosophy - Carlos III Uniersity o
Madrid, Lmail Address :antonio.peleuc3m.es
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1heconcept o human dignity is a complex notion that has been

studied in dierent ields, like law and bioethics. Nonetheless, and
because o the diiculty o its meaning, there is a current lack o serious
philosophical approaches concerning this alue. 1hroughout his
Adventures of Ideas, \hitehead deines the history o ciilization as the
progressie ormation o the idea o human dignity, just like a tiny glow
announcing the dawn o a new lie order
2
. According to Patocka, the
role o what he calls the moderate superciilization consists in the
creation o goods that can be uniersalized to all human beings. Ie
insistsparticularlyontwocorealues:scientiictruthandhumanliberty.
Both conigure the recognition o man by man as equal`
3
. Len i he
does not talk explicitly about human dignity, Patocka reers to this
notion as the central alue o western ciilization. Also, and rom an
historical perspectie, Bjar thinks that the greatest reolution o
modernity is the airmation o the indiidual as the deciding and
unquestionable center o the collectie organization
4

2
\II1LILAD, A. N., Adventures of Ideas, consulted in lrench: Aventures dIdes,
Breuart, J-M & Parmentier, A., ,trans.,, Les Lditions du Cer, Paris, 1993, |1|, p. 58-
59. Other passages where \hitehead talks about human dignity as a conquest o
Lurope and ciilization, are the ollowings: |15|, op.cit., p. 5, |22|, op.cit., p. 62, |4|,
op.cit., p. 83, |105|, op.cit., p. 133,|106|, op.cit.,p. 136. ,1hesquarebracketsreertothe
originalpages,.
. \ith these three
preliminary reerences, it might be possible to think about the idea o
human dignity. On one hand, this notion would be the mirror o a moral
progress:socialand political organizations would ind their raison dtre
in the respect o the alue o human being. On the other hand, human
dignity would match with a speciic historical period ,Modernity, and a
particular ciilization ,the \estern world,. Indeed, this culture has
ormulated morally and philosophically this notion, that has integrated in
the XXth century the national and and international legal orders as the
base o human rights. lor Peces-Barba, human dignity is the grounding
o the public ethic o modernity, like a prius o the political and legal
3
PA1OCKA, J., La surciilisation et son conlit interne`, Libert et Sacrifice. Abrams,
L., ,trans.,, Ld. Jrome Millon, Grenoble, 1990, pp. 121-122. Also see o the same
author: La culture tcheque en Lurope`, LIde dEurope en Bohme, Abrams, L., ,trans.,,
Ld. Jrome Millon, Grenoble, 1991, p. 135.
4
BLJAR, I., La Cultura del Yo: Pasiones Colectivas y Afectos Propios en la Teora Social,
Alianza, Madrid, 1993, p. 158.
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PELE, A., (2012) Understanding Human Dignity Redux, Postmodern Openings, Vol.3, Issue 3, September, pp:21-34.
Understanding Iuman Dignity Redux..
AntonioPLLL

alues
5
. As a consequence,the purpose o human rights is the deense
and the deelopment o this ideal
6
. In the XIXth century, Von
Iumboldt deined human dignity as the internal alue` o man, it is the
moral alue that becomes the uniersal criteria` o human relationships.
It would come rom the presence o the mark o humanity` in each
indiidual

. Nowadays, some try to understand the legal limits o this

concept, or instance, bioethics has opened brand new perspecties or
its application
8
. Ioweer, the notion has brought up many questions
related to the ambiguities o its meaning and the inconsistency o
separating the human` to the animal`
9
. In addition, others thinkers
hae tried to understand its historical and philosophical background
10
.
1his paper will try to contribute to this perspectie. Iuman dignity is
indeed the radical nucleus rom where has been built the philosophical
construction o human rights
11
. Also, Lukes deines human dignity as
the moral ,or religious, axiom` that recognizes a supreme and intrinsic
alue in the indiidual
12

5
PLCLS-BARBA MAR1NLZ, G., La Dignidad de la Persona desde la Filosofa del Derecho,
Cuadernos Bartolom de las Casas`, Dykinson, Madrid, 2003, p. 12.
. 1he concept o the indiidual` is indeed
important i we want to understand the background o human dignity.
1hus, Dumontpointsout: \hen we speak o man as an indiidual, we
designate two concepts at once: an object out there, and a alue.
6
RIODA L. & DONNLLL\ J., Iuman Dignity and Iuman Rights`, Universal
Human Rights in the Theory and Practice, Cornell Uniersity, Princeton, 2002, p. 66.

IUMBOLD1, \., ,on,, De lEsprit de lHumanit et Autres Essais sur le Dploiement de

Soi.Mannoni, O, ,trans.,, Ld. Premieres Pierres, Charenton, 2004, p. 59 & 61.
8
D\ORKIN, R., \hat is Sacred` in Lifes Dominion, Vintage Books, New-\ork, 1994,
p.68-102. lUKU\AMA, l., Iuman Dignity` in Our Posthuman Nature, Picador, New-
\ork, 2002, p. 148-180 MARCUS ILLMONS, S., ,dir.,, Dignit humaine et Hirarchie des
Valeurs: Les Limites Irrductibles, Uniersit Catholique de Louain, lacult de Droit.
Centre des Droits de l`Iomme, Academia, Louain-la-Neue, 1999. ANDORNO, R.,
Biotica y Dignidad de la Persona, 1ecnos, Madrid, 1998.
9
lLLMMING, A., Using a Man as a Means`, Ethics, n1, ol. 100, oct. 1989, pp. 283-
298.SLNNL11, R., Respect in World Of Inequality, \. \. Norton, London, 2003.
SINGLR, P., ,ed.,In Defense of Animals. The Second Wave, Blackwell, Victoria, 2005.
10
BAKLR, I., The Image of Man. A Study of the Idea of Human Dignity in Classical Antiquity,
the Middle Ages & The Renaissance, Iarper 1orchbooks, Nuea-\ork, 1961. POISSON,
J-l., La Dignit Humaine, Les Ltudes Iospitalieres, Lssentiel`, Bordeaux, 2004.
11
ANSU1LGUI ROIG., l. J., Orgenes Doctrinales de la Libertad de Expresin, Instituto
de Derechos Iumanos Bartolom de las Casas`, Uniersidad Carlos III de Madrid,
BOL, Madrid, 1994, p. 22.
12
LUKLS, S., Individualism, LCPR, Uniersity o Lssex, Colchester, 2006,p. 54.
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Comparison obliges us to distinguish analytically these two aspects: one,

theempirical subject o speech, thought, and will, the indiidual sample o
mankind, as ound in all societies, and, two, the independent,
autonomous, and thus essentially nonsocial moral being, who carries our
paramountaluesandisoundprimarilyinourmodernideologyoman
and society. \here the indiidual is a paramount alue I speak o
indiidualism. In the opposite case, where the paramount alue lies in
society as a whole, I speak o holism`
13
. Dumont implicitly reers to
humandignityasthecentralaluethathasshapedindiidualism.Iealso
raises another question that could perectly apply to the historical
construction o human dignity: 1he problem o the origins o
indiidualism consists grosso modo in knowing how and rom which type
o holist societies, could be deeloped a new type that contradicted
essentiallythecommonconception.Iowthistransitioncouldhaebeen
possibleIow can we imagine a transition between those two opposite
unierses, those two irreconcilable ideologies`
14
. In others words,
Dumontaskshimselhowindividualismcanstemromholism.1he lrench
anthropologist thinks this incompatibility can be soled considering
history: he detects a slow transormation` rom a kind o indiidualism
to another that comes to the modern indiidual, as a subject who is
sel-suicient in the social world
15
. 1hus, Dumont deines
contemporary human beings as indiiduals-in-the-world`, that is to say,
mundane and autonomous indiiduals. 1his kind o indiidualism has
appeared irst in holist and traditional societies. It comes rom a basic
kind o indiidualism, described as Outworldy indiiduals. 1hose who
haeincarnatedthislasttypearetheso-called renouncers` inIndia, the
igures o the pre-socratic wise man and the Christian. 1hose igures
would hae two common points: the distance rom the social world
andthe relativizationolie
16

13
DUMON1, L., Essays on Individualism. Modern Ideology in Anthropological Perspective, 1he
Uniersity o Chicago Press, Chicago, 1986, and in particular Chap. I: Genesis I. 1he
Christian Beginnings: lrom the Outworldy Indiidual to the Indiidual-in-the-world`,
p. 25.
.1hesetwocharacteristicshaegenerated
what Dumont calls the spiritual deelopment o indiidual`. 1he latter
reerstotheidealsoautonomyandsel-suiciency.1hoseidealswould
14
DUMON1, L., Essays on Individualism, op.cit., p. 3.
15
DUMON1, L., Essays on Individualism, op.cit. p. 24.
16
DUMON1, L., Essays on Individualism, op.cit., p. 26.
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Understanding Iuman Dignity Redux..
AntonioPLLL

be the grounding o modern indiidualism and human dignity. Indeed,

and ollowing the terminology o Dumont, the indiidual as a alue`,
has been built rom the outworldyindiidual. 1his one is situated outside
theestablishedpoliticalandsocialorganization:itisoutsideandbeyond
it. 1he conciliation and the transormation o the outworldyindiiduals
into the inwardly indiiduals hae been done slowly thanks to some
processes o adaptation to the world`. Among those processes,
Dumont insists on the notion o the Natural Law` deinedbystoicism
,and used aterwards by the Church, as an indispensable instrument o
adaptation
1
1hisanalysisoDumontcanbeuseultoourresearchonhuman
dignity. On one hand, i we want to understand the origins o this notion
in the pre-modern ages ,such as Antiquity,, we will deal with a speciic
concept o the indiidual: an outworldly indiidual who tries to adapt his
situation in-the-world`. In this case, the indiiduality still depends on
ethical holist rameworks. 1he idea o an autonomous indiidual,
premise o human dignity and such as we conceie it in our modern
times, does not exist yet, it`s about to be deeloped. As a consequence,
how is it possible to iner the idea o human dignity rom conceptions
thathaenotdeendedtheautonomy o indiiduals
.
18
\hen we talk about human dignity, we imply the dignity o the
human being`, that is to say, the autonomous indiidualholderorights.
1his dimension also entails the concept o equal dignity` that
recognizes an absolute equality between indiiduals. 1his equal dignity
orbids, at irst, discriminations based on natural, social and cultural
reasons, it is the ultimate alue that deines human beings as equal, and it
is required in their real conditions o liing

19
1he grounding o the dignity o the human being is
traditionally linked with the sense o belonging o all indiiduals to the
samehumanamily.1his membership inoles two aspects: on one side,
it is shaped by ideals o cosmopolitism that pretend to stimulate a
. Lqual dignity demands
subsequentlyamoralattitudeinhumanrelationshipsthatcanbedeined
by the notion o respect`.

1
DUMON1, L., Essays on Individualism, op. cit., p. 62.
18
I try to answer this question in my book: La Dignidad Humana. Sus Orgenes en el
Pensamiento Clsico, Dykinson, Madrid, 2010.
19
DAZ L., Un Itinerario Intelectual. De Filosofa Jurdica y Poltica, Biblioteca Nuea,
Madrid, 2003, p. 10.
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consciousness o mankind` in each indiidual. At the end, a common

andhumanidentityshouldpreailontheariousandnationalidentities.
On the other side, this common identity would come rom speciic
human characteristics shared by all indiiduals. 1his construction is
inherent to human dignity and allows deining a human identity that
would be the grounding o equal dignity
20
. Iere appears the second
dimension o human dignity that I deine as the dignity o human
nature. 1his ormula pretends to encapsulate dierent moral and
philosophical perspecties that identiy the superior speciicities o
humannature.1hoseoneswouldbethesignotheirhumanidentityand
the grounding o their intrinsic and absolute alue. 1his dignity o
human nature` would precede consequently the dignity o the human
being`, the irst one would oster` the human component o the
second one
21
. At the same time, a tension could appear between these
twodimensions:theautonomyrecognizedinthemodernindiidualcan
goagainstastrictandmoraldeinitionohumannature.1aylorindicates
that a moral consensus ,religious and secular, acknowledges some
groundinhumannatureorthehumanpredicamentwhichmakeshuman
it objects o respect`, but it cannot subscribe with complete coniction
to any particular deinition o this human nature
22
. Indeed, human
dignity is the legal and ethical oundation o human rights and implies
the recognition o an inherent autonomy in the human subject. 1his
autonomy escapes rom any holistic and moral considerations. 1he
dignity o the human being represents the base and the horizon o the
political and legal orders o the modern western societies. 1his point
would come rom a general rupture due to Modernity: it would consist in
the act that ontology is now preceded by axiology
23

20
lLRR\, L. & VINCLN1, J. D.,Quest ce que lhomme?, Ld. Odile Jacob, Paris, 2000,
p. 108.
.Iwewanttocarry
out a research into the historical and philosophical background o
human dignity, we will deal with a concept whose bounds will be
unclear, between ontology and axiology. 1his is the diiculty and the
21
lALRNA, A. M., De la naturaleza humana a la naturalizacin del hombre`,
lALRNA, A.M. & 1ORRLVLJANO, M., ,ed.,., Identidad, Individuo e Historia, Coleccin
lilosoas, Valencia, 2003, p. 113-139.
22
1A\LOR, CI., Sources of the Self: the Making of Modern Identity, Uniersity o
Cambridge Press, Cambridge, 1989, p. 10.
23
VALADILR, P., LAnarchie des Valeurs :Le relativisme est-il fatal ?, Albin Michel, Pars,
199, p. 49.
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PELE, A., (2012) Understanding Human Dignity Redux, Postmodern Openings, Vol.3, Issue 3, September, pp:21-34.
Understanding Iuman Dignity Redux..
AntonioPLLL

challenge o such an inestigation. But we can shed light on this tiny

glow`, according to \hitehead, trying to understandhowthedignityo
thehumanbeingstemsromhissupposedmoralautonomy.Itisaalue
dissociated rom any ethical idea o human nature or diinity
24
1o recapitulate, the modern deinition o human dignity reers to
the dignity o the human being. 1he latter branches out into two
complementary dimensions: the expression and the oundation o
human dignity. In the irst place, the expression would hae a double
meaning. It would irstly reer to the recognition o an intrinsic and
absolute alue in each person, considered as an autonomous indiidual.
It would secondly reer to the recognition o an equal dignity between
those indiiduals. Iuman rights represent in our present days the
ultimate expression and protection o human dignity. In the second
place, the grounding o human dignity would come rom the
membershipoeeryonetothehumanamily.1hismembershipwould
stemromacommonandhumanidentity.1hisseconddimensionisthe
dignity o human nature`. 1here is no clear separation between this
dimension and the irst one: the basis o the dignity o the human
being` seems to go back to the models o the dignity o human nature`.
1his second dimension has appeared historically beore the dignity o
the human being`, with or instance, writings upon the dignitas hominis
during the Middle Ages and the Renaissance. It has been structured
duringtimeswhenhumanpersonwasnotthecentralalueothesocial
organization.Once again, Dumont can be useul i we want to sole this
apparent paradox. Ie points out that the indiidual as a alue has
emergedinholisticsocietiesthankstodierenthumaniguresandmoral
trends that hae remoe it rom this holistic limits. 1his process o
detachment could hae been realized with the stimulation o speciic
aculties to human nature. More precisely, the emergence o the
indiidual as alue, as a creation ex nihilo can be explained by the
.
Ioweer, the modern deinition o human dignity deries rom moral
ideals o the dignity o human naturethatliewithinethicalandholist
structures. In order that autonomy should be considered as the central
alue upon which human dignity has been articulated, it has been
preiously included in the parameters o the dignity o human nature`.
In other words, the notion o autonomy does exist in moral and holist
rameworks that hae celebrated the excellence o human nature.

24
lLRR\, L. & VINCLN1, J. D.,Quest ce que lhomme?, op.cit., p. 66.
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philosophical indiidualism`. Indeed, the philosophical actiity, the

sustained exercise o rational inquiry carried out by generations o
thinkers, must by itsel hae ostered indiidualism, because reason,
uniersal in principle, is in practice at work through the particular person
who exercises it`
25
.1hisquoteimpliesthatthenotionohumandignity
,the indiidual as alue`,, comes rom the stimulation o human
aculties, and in particular, reason. 1his one should hae been preiously
identiied as a human capacity. Reason should hae been described as
proper to human nature. 1he indiidual is deined as the holder o the
characteristics o human nature and reason represents its supreme
maniestation. In others words, indiidual as alue` stems rom
human nature as alue`, the link between those two aspects has been
built by the celebration o human reason. 1he ery notion o person
comes rom the speciically human indiiduality`, and its dignity has
been shaped by the recognition o an autonomous and rational human
nature
26
Also, we should not all into the error o deending a progressie
eolutionohumandignity.Itwouldimplyasimplisticisionohistory
that does not match with the complexity o this notion. 1he history o
this ideal inoles numerous actors and actors, it has been a history o
struggles, conlicts and permanent discontinuities. Studying human
dignity through philosophy will not necessarily take into account others
historical and ideological points o iew. Neertheless, this ield
represents interesting perspecties. \e hae seen with Dumont that the
philosophical indiidualism` represents the base o the indiidual as
alue. 1he philosopher has been a classical igure that has been
conscious o his indiidual dignity. Ie excludes himsel rom the
mundane world, actiating the rational and moral capacities o human
nature.Ithinkitcouldbeinterestingtogodeeperintothisidearaisedby
. Iuman nature has been enhanced by the exaltation o the
characteristics deining all humans. 1hat is why it is impossible to
maintain a rigid position towards history. On one hand, we should not
modernize societies and ways o thinking, which hae emerged in holistic
rameworks. On the other, we should not deend a hermetic approach,
celebratingthemodernityothehumansubject,autonomousandholder
orights,inoppositionwiththepasthistory.

25
DUMON1, L., Essays on Individualism, op.cit., p. 40.
26
LADRILRL, P., La notion de personne, hritiere d`une longue tradition`,
NOVALS, S., ,dir.,, Biomdecine et Devenir de la Personne, Seuil, Paris, 1991, p. 30 & 35.
28
PELE, A., (2012) Understanding Human Dignity Redux, Postmodern Openings, Vol.3, Issue 3, September, pp:21-34.
Understanding Iuman Dignity Redux..
AntonioPLLL

Dumont, considering not only the historical personality o the

philosopherbutalsothephilosophical corpus.Iumandignityisnotonly
a legal and political notion but also ,and irst, a philosophical concept.
1hebondthatjoinsbothdimensionsispreciselyitsethicalbackground.
Baechler indicates that behind human dignity exists a proound
philosophical and ethical relexion that has lead to recognize a alue in
the human being, considered as an ideal
2
.1hisperspectieallowsusto
understand maybe the agueness oits meaning, and to contrast it with
some researches that caricature the concept o human dignity to an
exclusie theological basis
28
\e should underline another point i we want to inestigate the
historical eolution o human dignity. 1he pre-modern origins o this
concept come rom moral conceptions that hae deended the excellence
o human nature ,or what I call the dignity o human nature`,. 1hose
conceptions were structured on arious dualisms. Reason was deined as
theonlyelementthatcouldreealadignityintheindiidual.Atthesame
time, only the human soul could hold this aculty. As a consequence,
human body was considered as a limit to the exercise o reason, man
could ind its dignity i only he was able to oercome his mundane
passions and i he could actiate reason inside his soul. 1he latter was
theproootheconnectionbetweenhumananddeity.Italsoshowsthe
singularityohumanspeciesinrelationwithanimals.In other words, the
rational soul was the base o the dignity o human nature. It een
legitimates the domination o men on the rest o nature. 1here was a
dualism between body and soul, human and animal, and between the
spiritualrealityandthemundaneworld.Indiidualsshouldhaeelttheir
dignity as a transcendental alue, because they belonged to a diine
community. 1he other releant point is that this dualism between body
and soul was also the ethical ramework to legitimate slaery, that is to
say, the ery negation o equal dignity. Some indiiduals were notableto
control the urges o their bodies and to reach a moral autonomy. 1hey
were not able to update` the dignity o human nature`. 1hereore, and
.

2
BALCILLR, J., Indiidualit, personnalit et identit`, CAROSLLLA, L. D. ,dir.,,
Lidentit? Soi et non-soi, individu et personne, PUl, Paris, 2006, p. 89.
28
DUll\, R. A. &GAMBA1LSL, A., ,ed.,, Made in God's Image: The Catholic Vision of
Human Dignity, Paulist Press, New Jersy, 1999, KLNDALL SOULLN, R. &
\OODILAD, L., God and Human Dignity, \m. B. Lerdmans Publishing Company,
Grand Rapids, 2006, MUZZAlAR, C., Rights, Religion and Reform: Enhancing Human
Dignity through Spiritual and Moral Transformation, Routledge Curzon, Nuea \ork, 2002.
29
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een or their own good, they had to accept the domination o those
who were able to be rationally autonomous. 1hus, the models o the
dignity o human nature` were based on moral ideals o human
excellence that represented ethical barriers to the notion o equal dignity.
lor instance, women could not participate in this excellence o human
nature, they could not control the urges o their bodies, their emotions
dominated their reason, and they were not able to participate in the
political sphere. In the pre-modern times, the construction o the
dignity o human nature` implied a process o exclusion o arious
indiiduals rom the circle o humanity: animals, oreigners, women,
childrenandelders.Someindiidualshadtobepreiouslydehumanized
in order to justiy their political and social exclusion. In the classical ages
or instance, the idea o dignity depended on the identity o the
Athenian or the Roman citizen. Only one circle o indiiduals
represented the ideals o human nature, while the other human groups
could not reach this excellence
29
. Neertheless, this idea o human
dignity is deeply rooted in the philosophical and historical relations
betweenthesubjectandtruth
30
linally, the notion o human dignity might be one o the pillars
o the Luropean identity. It does not mean o course, that this notion
hasnotappearedinothercultures.Itisjustaaluethathasbeenshaped
and transormed by many Luropean and humanist thinkers throughout
the ages. In the introduction o the Crisis of the European culture, Iazard
talks about the distinctie beauty` o our human brothers` who hae
looked or their ways reaching unknown destinies. 1hus: i the
distinctie eature o Lurope ,., is to neer be content with something,
andtostartalloeragainits search or the truth, there is in this eort a
distressing beauty. Studying the birth o ideas, or at least, their
metamorphosis ,., one is coninced that it is not the material orces
but the moral and philosophical ones that guide and dominate human
lie
.
31

29
SLRRLS, M., Conusion entre appartenance et identit`, in GRUSZO\, S., ,dir.,.,
Lidentit : qui suis-je ?, Ld. Le Pommier, Paris, 2006, p. 10-2.
. In a same perspectie, Sloterdijk imagines the direction o the
Luropean destiny, beyond o what he calls the Lmpire`s transer`. Ie
30
lOUCAUL1, M., The Hermeneutics of the Subject: Lectures at the Collge de France 1981-
1982.Burchell, G., ,trans,. Palgrae Macmillan, London, 2005, p. 2-30.
31
IAZARD, P., La Crise de la Conscience Europenne (1680-1715), Lire de Poche, Paris,
1994, p. .
30
PELE, A., (2012) Understanding Human Dignity Redux, Postmodern Openings, Vol.3, Issue 3, September, pp:21-34.
Understanding Iuman Dignity Redux..
AntonioPLLL

points outs that the ery name o Luropa` reers to a part o the world
where the relexion upon the truth and the quality o lie is
unquestionably singular. Len in modern times, Luropeans hae still
belieed that what is air and worthy in the human being hae, in a long
term, a right to success. It is not a coincidence i they bring, in their
concepts o science, democracy, human rights and art, something o
their characteristic idea o the truth. 1hese concepts participate in the
Luropean challenge launched to the human species: to create orms o
lie that consider man as a creature essentially proound and able o
greatness. Luropeans, as long as they produce some eorts, are in
consequence, rebels against misery ,.,. Unlike anyone else, they suer
rom the misery that consists in haing no project against misery. 1he
Luropeandespairsaremuchmoredangerousthanthedespairsopeople
rom other cultures. One says wisely that Lurope was the mother o
reolutions, a deeper deinition would describe Lurope as the home
against human misery ,.,. 1he right o Lurope is her great declaration
or the human being
32
. 1he idea o human dignity would be an
important contribution o Lurope to the \estern ciilization.According
to Sloterdijk, the Luropean culture could be deined by its opposition
against ideologies that deny any dignity in the human being. Lurope
would create new spaces and actiities in accordance with the
expressions o human dignity. 1his notion would historically propel the
Luropean identity, it would be mythical-engine o the Luropean
consciousness
33
1his perspectie should be deeloped: on one hand, this
mythical engine` o human dignity has suered ,and it still suers,
many breakdowns. On the other hand, it has been ed with a uel that
does not come exclusiely rom the Luropean ground. 1hat is why we
hae to take into account the idea o Patocka who, in 190, urged to
considerseriouslyallthecultural,and,Luropeantraditions:
.
1he generalization o Lurope will lead necessarily to a debate
onthecultural traditions that oer to the idea o Lurope an empirical
andindispensablebase.Until now, those traditions hae been considered
as dead and insigniicant, but we will hae to take them into account

32
SLO1LRDIJK, P., Falls Europa erwacht, consulted in lrench, Si lEurope sveille,
Mannoni, O, ,trans.,, Ld. Mille et Une Nuits, Paris, 1994, p. 89-91
33
SLO1LRDIJK, P., Si lEurope sveille, op.cit., p. 88.
31
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PostmodernOpenings

seriously. Indeed, Lurope inds nowhere a tabula rasa, but a ground

already ploughed, a worldalready shaped ,.,`
34
Len i the concept o human dignity might hae been
discoered by a Luropean and humanist traditions, it is open to other
cultures that may hae expanded its dimensions, celebrating the
autonomy o indiiduals and their equal dignity. It is ery important to
oercomethenaietyouniersalistideasaswellastheconseratismo
multicultural approaches: the concept o human dignity, and human
rights in general are \estern principles but those historical origins do
notinalidatetheeectienessothosenotions.
.
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