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A Human Dignitas? The Contemporary Principle of Human Dignity as a Mere Reappraisal of an Ancient Legal Concept
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1725-6739
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EUI LAW; 2008/18
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HENNETTE VAUCHEZ, Stephanie, A Human Dignitas? The Contemporary Principle of Human Dignity as a Mere Reappraisal of an Ancient Legal Concept, EUI LAW, 2008/18 - https://hdl.handle.net/1814/9009
Abstract
This paper suggests that the contemporary principle of human dignity in so far as it is
used as means of limiting the exercise of individual freedom (in such landmark cases as
the dwarf-throwing ones, as well as when used against prostitution, certain sexual
conducts or the right to refuse medical treatment…) does not have much to do with the
human dignity principle that was consecrated after WWII. Rather, it shares many a
resemblance with the ancient concept of dignitas, for it has the same function (ground
obligations –and not rights), structure (obligations towards oneself) and regime
(inalienability). The bondage between contemporary and ancient dignity is a crucial
one, for it implies that the ‘foundation of human rights’ paradigm, very common to
post-WWII usages of human dignity, can no longer serve as a justification for the
human dignity principle.