Book contents
- The Cambridge Handbook of Natural Law and Human Rights
- The Cambridge Handbook of Natural Law and Human Rights
- Copyright page
- Contents
- Contributors
- Acknowledgements
- Introduction
- Part I Natural Law and the Origins of Human Rights
- Part II Natural Law Foundations of Human Rights Obligations
- Part III Natural Law and Human Rights within Religious Traditions
- Part IV The Human Person, Political Community, and Rule of Law
- 18 Human Dignity and Natural Law
- 19 Civic Friendship, Natural Law, and Natural Rights
- 20 Common Goods, Group Rights, and Human Rights
- 21 Natural Law, Human Rights, and the Separation of Powers
- 22 Human Goods and Human Rights Law
- 23 Natural Law, Human Rights, and Jus Cogens
- Part V Rival Interpretations and Interpretive Principles
- Part VI Challenges and Future Prospects
- Index
18 - Human Dignity and Natural Law
from Part IV - The Human Person, Political Community, and Rule of Law
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 03 November 2022
- The Cambridge Handbook of Natural Law and Human Rights
- The Cambridge Handbook of Natural Law and Human Rights
- Copyright page
- Contents
- Contributors
- Acknowledgements
- Introduction
- Part I Natural Law and the Origins of Human Rights
- Part II Natural Law Foundations of Human Rights Obligations
- Part III Natural Law and Human Rights within Religious Traditions
- Part IV The Human Person, Political Community, and Rule of Law
- 18 Human Dignity and Natural Law
- 19 Civic Friendship, Natural Law, and Natural Rights
- 20 Common Goods, Group Rights, and Human Rights
- 21 Natural Law, Human Rights, and the Separation of Powers
- 22 Human Goods and Human Rights Law
- 23 Natural Law, Human Rights, and Jus Cogens
- Part V Rival Interpretations and Interpretive Principles
- Part VI Challenges and Future Prospects
- Index
Summary
We set forth and defend a natural law account of the fundamental dignity of persons. The basis of fundamental dignity--and of the possession of fundamental rights--is being a person: a being with a rational nature. What distinguishes human beings from other animals, what makes human beings persons rather than things, is their rational nature, that is, their having a nature oriented towards enabling them to shape their lives by their deliberate (rational) and free choices. One’s dignity and status as a person derives from the kind of substantial entity one is, namely, a human being, and, as such a creature whose nature is a rational nature. Because personhood is based on the kind of being one is – a substantial entity whose nature is a rational nature – one cannot lose one’s fundamental personal dignity as long as one exists. Although not all persons need be human beings (if, say, there are angels or intelligent Martians, they too are persons), all persons have a rational nature. And so every human being, from his or her coming to be until he or she ceases to be, is a person, and as such a bearer of inherent dignity and fundamental rights.
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- The Cambridge Handbook of Natural Law and Human Rights , pp. 263 - 275Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2022