02901nam 2200649 a 450 991097431270332120240416153312.0978067426497706742649759780674059429067405942510.4159/9780674059429(CKB)2670000000081135(OCoLC)709591717(CaPaEBR)ebrary10456073(SSID)ssj0000470112(PQKBManifestationID)12189973(PQKBTitleCode)TC0000470112(PQKBWorkID)10412008(PQKB)11471857(MiAaPQ)EBC3300906(Au-PeEL)EBL3300906(CaPaEBR)ebr10456073(DE-B1597)583596(DE-B1597)9780674059429(OCoLC)1301549098(Perlego)1146938(EXLCZ)99267000000008113520100623d2011 uy 0engurcn|||||||||txtccrHuman dignity /George Kateb1st ed.Cambridge, Mass. Belknap Press of Harvard University Pressc20111 online resource (257 p.) Bibliographic Level Mode of Issuance: Monograph9780674048379 0674048377 Includes bibliographical references and index.The idea of human dignity -- Individual status and human rights -- Human uniqueness : traits and attributes -- Human stature and human achievements.Kateb asserts that the defense of universal human rights requires two indispensable components: morality (as promoted or enforced by justice) and human dignity. For Kateb, morality and justice have sound theoretical underpinnings; human dignity, by virtue of its “existential” quality, lacks (but merits) its own theoretical framework. This he proceeds to establish with a critique of the writings of canonical Western political philosophers (Plato, Aristotle, Hobbes, Locke, Rousseu, Mill, Emerson, Thoreau) and contemporary thinkers like Peter Singer and Thomas Nagel. The author argues that while morality compels just governments to prevent, reduce, or eliminate human suffering inasmuch as it is possible, people possess and are entitled to dignity by mere virtue of their “status” as human beings. Homo sapiens, he maintains, have a “stature,” manifest in the species's “great achievements,” that exceeds that of other creatures, even in (or especially in) the secular cosmos.Human rightsDignityHuman rights.Dignity.323Kateb George619676MiAaPQMiAaPQMiAaPQBOOK9910974312703321Human dignity1078129UNINA