This introduction to human dignity explores the history of the notion of dignity, addresses a range of systematic conceptualisations and introduces current debates. Featuring a wide range of perspectives, it is a valuable resource for students, scholars and professionals working in philosophy, law, history and theology.

Introduction: 1. Human dignity from a legal perspective; 2. Human dignity - concept, discussions, philosophical perspectives; Part I. Origins of the Concept in European History: 3. Meritocratic and civic dignity in Greco-Roman antiquity; 4. Human dignity in the Middle Ages, twelfth to fourteenth century; 5. Human dignity in late-medieval spiritual and political conflicts; 6. The Council of Valladolid, 1550-1: a European disputation about the human dignity of indigenous peoples of the Americas; 7. Human dignity in the Renaissance; 8. Martin Luther's conception of human dignity; 9. Natural rights vs. human dignity: two conflicting traditions; 10. Human dignity in Rousseau and the French Revolution; 11. Human dignity and socialism; 12. Human dignity in the Jewish tradition; Part II. Beyond the Scope of the European Tradition: 13. The concepts of human dignity in moral philosophies of indigenous peoples of the Americas; 14. Human dignity in the Islamic world; 15. Hinduism: the universal self in a class society; 16. Buddhism: inner dignity and absolute altruism; 17. Human dignity in traditional Chinese Confucianism; 18. Dignity in traditional Chinese Daoism; Part III. Systematic Conceptualization: 19. Social and cultural presuppositions for the use of the concept of human dignity; 20. Is human dignity the ground of human rights?; 21. Human dignity - can a historical foundation alone suffice?; 22. Kantian perspectives on the rational basis of human dignity; 23. Kantian dignity: a critique; 24. Human dignity and human rights in Alan Gewirth's moral philosophy; 25. Human dignity in the capability approach; 26. Human dignity in Catholic thought; 27. Jacques Maritain's personalist conception of human dignity; 28. Scheler and human dignity; 29. Dignity and the Other: dignity and the phenomenological tradition; 30. Dignity, fragility, singularity in Paul Ricoeur's ethics; 31. Human dignity as universal nobility; 32. Dignity in the Ubuntu tradition; 33. Posthuman dignity; 34. Dignity as the right to have rights: human dignity in Hannah Arendt; 35. Individual and collective dignity; Part IV. Legal Implementation: 36. Equal dignity in international human rights; 37. Is human dignity a useless concept? Legal perspectives; 38. Human dignity in French law; 39. Human dignity in German law; 40. Human dignity in US law; 41. Human dignity in South American law; 42. Human dignity in South African law; 43. The Islamic world and the alternative declarations of human rights; 44. The protection of human dignity under Chinese law; 45. Human dignity in Japanese law; 46. The place of dignity in the Indian constitution; Part V. Conflicts and Violence: 47. Human dignity and war; 48. Treatment of prisoners and torture; 49. Human dignity and prostitution; 50. Human dignity, immigration and refugees; Part VI. Contexts of Justice: 51. Human dignity and social welfare; 52. Dignity and global justice; 53. Human dignity and people with disabilities; 54. Human dignity as a concept for the economy; 55. Human dignity and gender inequalities; 56. The rise and fall of freedom of online expression; Part VII. Biology and Bioethics: 57. The threefold challenge of Darwinism to an ethics of human dignity; 58. On the border of life and death: human dignity in bioethics; 59. Human dignity and commodification in bioethics; 60. Dignity only for humans? A controversy; 61. Dignity only for humans? On the dignity and inherent value of non-human beings; 62. Human dignity and future generations.

'This is a publication which meets, to a considerable extent, its ambitious interdisciplinary aims. This being the case, the edited collection is certainly recommended to the researcher of the concept of human dignity, as an excellent starting point for one's interdisciplinary academic endeavours in the area. The work is thus deemed an indispensable academic tool for one's initial theoretical exploration of the concept of dignity.' Antonios E. Platsas, The International Journal of Human Rights

Marcus Duwell is Professor of Philosophical Ethics and Research Director of the Ethics Institute at Utrecht University, The Netherlands. Jens Braarvig is Professor of Religious Studies at the University of Oslo, Norway. Roger Brownsword is Professor of Law at King's College London. He is also an honorary Professor in Law at the University of Sheffield and a visiting professor at Singapore Management University. Dietmar Mieth is Professor (Emeritus) of Theological Ethics and Social Ethics at the University of Tubingen, Germany.