CFP: Frontiers of Dignity: its Nature and Scope

Special issue of Ethical Theory and Moral Practice on ‘Frontiers of Dignity: its Nature and Scope’ (guest editor: Corrado Del Bò, University of Milan, Italy).

Rationale of the special issue:

The concept of dignity has been employed in a wide array of fields in ethics, political theory, bioethics, and law. Despite its being frequently appealed to in diverse areas there is deep controversy over the nature of dignity, its normative function, and its scope of application. Within this wide array of themes, this special issue will focus in particular on two topics: the normative role of human dignity and the scope of dignity.

The first topic is the role of the concept of dignity. The traditional Kantian view considers dignity an intrinsic and incomparable value which provides the foundation of human rights. However, some have argued that it is not dignity which grounds human rights or respect, but that rights or respect constitute dignity. In sum, what is the specific role of dignity? Is it a moral property that grounds the most fundamental rights and in which the specific moral status of individuals consists? Or does dignity play a more specific normative role in justifying certain entitlements, such as the right to bodily integrity and freedom from coercion?

The second topic is the scope of dignity. Some argue that equal human dignity cannot be justified, because it is not clear what property human beings share in virtue of which we may attribute equal dignity to them. Moreover, certain human beings do not possess those properties (rationality, moral agency, self-reflexivity etc.) which are usually taken to be the basis of human dignity. In the light of this, the idea of dignity seems liable to the charge of speciesism. Can dignity be extended also to all sentient animals? Can there be a non-speciesist understanding of dignity? Or does dignity make sense only if applied to human persons?

This special issue aims to address these and other related topics that lie at the frontiers of the idea of human dignity. A paper specifically discussing the basis and ground of dignity in relation to its role or scope is especially welcome.

Contacts and timeline:

Please send a long abstract (max 500 words) to [email protected] by 30 November. A decision will be communicated by 15 December 2014.

A complete version of the paper should be prepared by April 2015 and the final version should be submitted by May 2015.

Inquiries should be addressed to [email protected]