Menu Expand
Social Thought and Rival Claims to the Moral Ideal of Dignity

Social Thought and Rival Claims to the Moral Ideal of Dignity

Philip Hodgkiss

(2018)

Additional Information

Book Details

Abstract

The relation between changes in society over historical time and the concomitant transformation of a concept that depicts something of intrinsic value in that society is complex and contingent. Social Thought and Rival Claims to the Moral Ideal of Dignity attempts to see if we can get any closer to a rounded, three-dimensional view of dignity by drawing on the historical record, on philosophy and social thought more widely and, finally, on contributions that present dignity in a rather more public and political light. In thus tracing the fortunes of human dignity we find that it has not always been viewed as a straightforwardly laudable principle. Social Thought and Rival Claims to the Moral Ideal of Dignity examines the reasons behind what turns out to be, really quite pronounced, the ambiguous status of the idea and ideal of dignity.


Dignity has a remarkable resonance in contemporary life. It is used as a touchstone to mark out what is deemed good, right or proper. In all walks of public life dignity is invoked as having a talismanic power to distil the final essence of human existence. Yet, in such public discourse, largely uninformed by the signal role dignity has played in ethical thought, we rarely become acquainted with the source of dignity's imputed magical powers. ‘Social Thought and Rival Claims to the Moral Ideal of Dignity’ is a sustained attempt to rectify this oversight by following the fortunes of the idea of dignity from its humble origins until it comes to represent in our time a universal ethical ideal.

Beginning by tracing the source of dignity’s occult status from its earliest appearance in the life and thought of ancient Greece, ‘Social Thought and Rival Claims to the Moral Ideal of Dignity’ proceeds to identify dignity in the theological ethics of early Christianity through to the late Middle Ages, Renaissance and early modern period, where dignity appears for the first time in secular thought. The second part of the book picks up the growing debate in the Enlightenment and romantic period and from that point onwards concentrates on following closely the unfolding significance of the idea and ideal of dignity in the classical thought of philosophy and sociology and in more recent perspectives.

In exploring the legacy from such sources, ‘Social Thought and Rival Claims to the Moral Ideal of Dignity’ distinguishes dignity from other related ethical notions such as respect for persons, duty and compassion as they appear on the respective agendas of distributive justice, human (and animal) rights and natural law and citizenship. The course of the discussion illustrates just how wide ranging recourse to dignity has become as an ethical ideal and explores the reasons behind its resurgent modern deployment. Ironically, while the concept of dignity has, indeed, begun to feature in a range of recent public policy debates, insights from evolutionary psychology and biology tell a very different tale: that dignity is quite misconceived. ‘Social Thought and Rival Claims to the Moral Ideal of Dignity’ culminates in an analysis of the reasons behind dignity’s recently acquired negative connotation.


Philip Hodgkiss is a sociologist who has been drawn increasingly to moral philosophy and ethics to research the origins of the idea and ideal of dignity. He is the author of The Making of the Modern Mind (2001) and has contributed chapters to various collections and edited volumes.


‘In this illuminating and detailed exploration of the concept of dignity, Hodgkiss discusses it in relation to the history of moral thought from Ancient Greece to the present day. He provides us with an invaluable philosophical and political account of its development and of the challenges we face in pursuing a dignified life.’
—Ken McLaughlin, Senior Lecturer, Manchester Metropolitan University, UK

Table of Contents

Section Title Page Action Price
Cover Cover 1
Front Matter iii
Half-title i
Title page iii
Copyright information iv
Table of contents v
Preface and note on text structure vii
Acknowledgments xi
Chapter 1-10 1
Chapter One Introduction: The Distinction of Dignity 1
I 1
II 8
III 11
Chapter Two Dignity, Freedom and Reason: From Ancient Greece to Early Modernity 17
I 17
Dignity as the Consummate Act of Reason 17
II 24
The Rationalists: Reason as Dignity in Itself 24
III 26
Dignity, Natural Law and the Constraint of Freedom 26
Conclusion 29
Chapter Three The Sense of Dignity in Moral Philosophy: From the Ethical Intuitionists to the Irrationalists 33
I 33
Moral Sense: Sympathy, Pity and Compassion as Counterparts to Dignity 33
II 37
The Legacy of Kant 37
III 42
Irrationalism: Passion versus Compassion 42
Conclusion 46
Chapter Four Marx’s Critique of Morality: Natural Law, the State and Citizenship 51
I 51
Natural Law Yielding to the State 51
II 53
Hegel and Marx: Natural Law, the State and the Citizen 53
III 57
Marx’s Conception of Dignity and the Critique of Morality 57
Conclusion 63
Chapter Five Classical Sociology’s Regard for Human Dignity 67
I 67
In the Realm of Morality: The Classical Sociological Interpretation of Dignity 67
II 73
Developing a Conception of Dignity in Action 73
III 76
‘The Ethical State’ and Dignity: Concern and Control in Three Dimensions 76
Conclusion 79
Chapter Six The Human Face of Dignity Reflected in Phenomenology and Existentialism 83
I 83
Beholding ‘the Other’: The Legacy of Phenomenology 83
II 90
‘Between’ You and Me: Facing Up to Dignity 90
Conclusion 96
Chapter Seven A Fresh Term for Dignity: Attending the Frankfurt School (Both ‘Old’ and ‘Young’) 99
I 99
The Critique of the Subject of Dignity 99
II 104
Habermas: Cooperation, Autonomy and the Supersession of Egocentricity 104
III 107
A Miscarriage of Justice? 107
IV 110
Language as the Medium of Dignity 110
Conclusion 113
Chapter Eight Notes Sampling Research and Practice: Making Dignity Work; Making Dignity Care 117
I 117
Initiating Recognition of the Dignity of Labour 117
II 121
The Emerging Focus on Dignity in Work 121
III 123
The Working Hypothesis of Dignity 123
IV 127
Making Dignity Care 127
Conclusion 132
Chapter Nine The Slighting of Dignity: The Critic’s Charter 135
I 135
Seizing the Moment to Round on Dignity 135
Dignity Replacing the Moral Device of Honour 135
Dignity and a Suspect Human Rights 138
Dignity as Mistaken Design (the ‘Scientific View’) 141
Excursus: Behaving with Dignity 146
Conclusion 151
Chapter Ten Conclusion: After the Recognition of Dignity 155
I 155
The Final Reckoning 155
Being without Rhyme or Reason: The Further Recognition of Dignity 155
Charting Any Reasonable Grounds for the State of Dignity 161
End Matter 167
Notes 167
Chapter One Introduction: The Distinction of Dignity 167
Chapter Two Dignity, Freedom and Reason: From Ancient Greece to Early Modernity 168
Chapter Three The Sense of Dignity in Moral Philosophy: From the Ethical Intuitionists to the Irrationalists 168
Chapter Four Marx’s Critique of Morality: Natural Law, the State and Citizenship 169
Chapter Five Classical Sociology’s Regard for Human Dignity 170
Chapter Six The Human Face of Dignity Reflected in Phenomenology and Existentialism 170
Chapter Seven A Fresh Term for Dignity: Attending the Frankfurt School (Both ‘Old’ and ‘Young’) 171
Chapter Eight Notes Sampling Research and Practice: Making Dignity Work; Making Dignity Care 172
Chapter Nine The Slighting of Dignity: The Critic’s Charter 173
Chapter Ten Conclusion: After the Recognition of Dignity 173
Bibliography 175
Index 185