Human Dignity: Its Meaning and Relevance in the United States

«Human dignity» is a term that has been used after World War II to defend human beings from unjust treatment. In the United States, it was introduced to protect those who are unable to give or withhold consent for biomedical procedures. The term has been sharply criticized, however, by materialist philosophers such as Steven Pinker as well as by Thomist philosophers such as Alasdair MacIntyre. Both hold that the concept is useless and even harmful. Pinker’s main criticism is that since the term has so many meanings, it is rendered muddy and inapplicable. This paper will first show earlier responses to Pinker and then weave a new response by demonstrating that, although the term is really polysemic, it has a central meaning which has been tried and found indispensable by the central Western philosophical and juridical tradition for more than two millennia. It will be proved, thus, that the claim about its uselessness lacks ground.