Human Dignity and Political Criticism

by Colin Bird

Overview

Many, including Marx, Rawls, and the contemporary 'Black Lives Matter' movement, embrace the ambition to secure terms of co-existence in which the worth of people's lives becomes a lived reality rather than an empty boast. This book asks whether, as some believe, the philosophical idea of human dignity can help achieve that ambition. Offering a new fourfold typology of dignity concepts, Colin Bird argues that human dignity can perform this role only if certain traditional ways of conceiving it are abandoned. Accordingly, Bird rejects the idea that human dignity refers to the inherent worth or status of individuals, and instead reinterprets it as a social relation, constituted by affects of respect and the modes of mutual attention which they generate. What emerges is a new vision of human dignity as a vital political value, and an arresting vindication of its role as an agent of critical reflection on politics.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781108927628
Publisher:	Cambridge University Press
Publication date:	08/24/2023
Pages:	290
Product dimensions:	5.98(w) x 9.02(h) x 0.59(d)

About the Author

Colin Bird is Professor of Politics at the University of Virginia. He is author of The Myth of Liberal Individualism (Cambridge University Press, 1999), An Introduction to Political Philosophy (Cambridge University Press, 2006, 2020) and numerous journal articles.

Table of Contents

Part I. The Contours of Dignitarian Humanism: 1. The tribunal of human dignity; 2. Some remarks on method; 3. Pressure points; 4. Four concepts of dignity; Part II. Against Traditional Accounts of Human Dignity: 5. The inherent dignity of the person; 6. The inner ocean; 7. Passport-dignity; Part III. A Revisionist Approach: 8. Dignity-revisionism: Challenges and opportunities; 9. Commercial and human economies; 10. Marx on value and valorization; 11. Love and respect: Attentional currencies; 12. Attentional precedence; 13. Human dignity; 14. After respect; 15. Human dignity and political criticism.

Editorial Reviews

‘Political Criticism and Human Dignity is an ambitious, scholarly examination of the interrelated ideas of human dignity and respect, and the mainstream political theory that has come to depend on these ideas. Its conclusions will challenge those already invested in traditional liberal, especially Rawlsian theory to rethink some of their most basic assumptions.' Remy Debes, University of Memphis

‘Human Dignity and Political Criticism offers a fresh, insightful, and provocative approach to the topic of human dignity and its place in political philosophy.’ Rachel Bayefsky, The Review of Politics

From the Publisher