Human dignity under philosophical scrutiny

A reflection agenda based on the ethics of vulnerability

Abstract

The article investigates the impact of the idea of vulnerability on the understanding of human dignity, focusing on the revitalization of its critical capacity and its emancipatory force. To this end, it is organized into three parts: the first analyzes the dilemma between the legal centrality of dignity and its social ineffectiveness, while also underscoring the need to subject dignity to philosophical scrutiny in light of its semantic indeterminacy; the second examines the semantic shifts undergone by the notion as a result of its association with the ideas of status, autonomy, and vulnerability; the third proposes an agenda for
reflection on dignity from the perspective of ethics of vulnerability, highlighting
the contributions of Martha Nussbaum, Eva Kittay, and Corine Pelluchon.