On Dignity: A Definition

Caleb Robertson
6 days ago
8 min read

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Introduction

I've been contemplating the concept, origin, and nature of morality a lot lately.

I watch as this sapling of curiosity rises from the soil, silhouetted against a bright and newly broadened horizon.

Growing up with and then walking away from religious certainty tends to leave a bit of a vacuum in one's understanding of what is "right" and "wrong" and how those terms are even defined—conceptually and practically.

If the laws, mandates, and commands of one's religious text (e.g. the Bible, Torah, Quran, etc.) is the foundation of their morality due to its perceived divine inerrancy, infallibility, and inspiration, what happens when one's conscience and conviction leads them to no longer hold to these alleged characteristics? At least not in the same concise and dogmatic way they once did?

While the wind caused by this vacuum can feel terrifyingly turbulent—like the breach in a spaceship's airlock threatening to forcibly drag one into the void—I have come to recognize it as something more natural and dynamic. A recognition that allows me to peacefully sit with the uncertainty when things in my life are morally comfortable; watching the leaves and flowers sway in the gentle breeze that cools me. And when someone "wrongs" me or that which is dear to me and the moral comfort declines, I can recognize (via a commitment to curiosity) the pain as a stronger gale that, in the end, sustains my world by clearing the dead brush of apathy.

And yet the question remains... how does one define what is right and wrong? This is not a new question. Its winding halls have been searched by the likes of Socrates, Confucius, Plato, Laozi, Aristotle, Aquinas, Hume, Kant, and Nietzsche for millenia. Conclusions have been drawn by nearly every religion and their defining figures. And yet, to me, every time a definition of morality begins to take shape in my hands, it soon slips through my fingers and I'm left continuing to explore. The more I repeat this, the more I'm grateful for the process. I find life would be rather dim were it not for the deep, labyrinthian caverns of humanity where our curiosity is given purposeful space to run wild.

I find life would be rather dim were it not for the deep, labrynthian caverns of humanity where our curiosity is given purposeful space to run wild.

I write these entries to hopefully achieve three things:

Record my own layman's journey in exploring the concept of morality.
Include any interested and curious individuals on that journey; if that's you, I warmly invite you to walk alongside! Here, you will find a conversational, casual, and practical flavor of philosophy that intersects with mental health, spirituality, and daily life without leaving you behind regardless of your academic capacity.
Challenge those (including myself) who may take their definition of morality for granted or not consider it at all. I am a fierce proponent that knowing why we do anything (like treat people well) matters. And I believe that the better we know our "why" when it comes to morality (even if it differs from others'), the better we will treat ourselves and others.

And so our journey begins with the one word that has incessantly anchored itself to my contemplation of morality: Dignity.

Dignity

For now, I only seek to define the term so it may serve us further down the road. Later we will explore how this concept connects to our identity, behavior, and beliefs. We will even explore the legitimacy of the concept itself.

But before diving into the philosophies of Nietzsche, Cicero, Aristotle, and Kant, let us focus on the here-and-now; how dignity shows up practically in our daily lives.

I invite you to keep a proverbial magnifying glass on dignity as it shows up in the following examples. You'll likely be compelled to focus on justice, but try to peer beneath that. Consider how justice serves dignity:

[Trigger Warning: The third example includes descriptions of mild sexual assault and physical violence]

Example 1

You and your two children stand in line for your first ride on a new, long-awaited rollercoaster. You've traveled across several state lines to get here. As you near the gate after nearly two hours of waiting, a group of teenagers hurriedly push their way through the line alleging that they forgot something. They barge past you and your children as the gates open, taking your spots on the rollercoaster.

The next ride will arrive in under two minutes. Compared to the two hours you've waited so far, that's not a big deal in the grand scheme of things. And it's not like anyone got hurt. Even if you're patient enough to simply roll your eyes at what just transpired and wait a couple more minutes... you still rolled your eyes. Why?

Example 2

You are at your adult child's house for a family dinner to celebrate your 80th birthday. You are sharp, well-read, and still manage your own finances. You drove yourself here. During the meal, your adult children begin discussing your future living arrangements and your recent health check-up as if you aren't sitting at the head of the table. They talk about you in the third person: "I think they need to move closer to me," and "Have they been taking those new vitamins?" When you try to weigh in, they smile and pat your hand before continuing the conversation without you.

You have plenty of food, you are in a warm room, and your family clearly cares for your well-being. Why does this situation make you feel diminished and disrespected rather than cared for?

Example 3

You and your partner are enjoying a night at the local bar that you frequent. A stranger, someone you haven't seen around here before, walks behind you and grabs at you on their way by. You feel the confusion, fear, anger, and shame drown you in its wave. Your favorite bar suddenly feels unsafe. Your partner erupts in a fury, grabs the perpetrator, and begins punching them.

One could say the perpetrator was just expressing their attraction to you, why aren't you flattered? Why did you have such a visceral reaction to a physically harmless act?

Local laws aside, is your partner justified for landing a punch on the perpetrator? Two punches? Three? How many is too many? Why?

Example 4

You are shopping with your adult sibling who has Down Syndrome. They have spent weeks practicing how to use their own debit card and budget their money so they can walk to the corner store and buy their own groceries. They take great pride in this independence. Today, they are ahead of you at the register with a carton of eggs and some milk. Your sibling is moving a bit slowly, carefully counting out the steps they learned to insert the card and enter their PIN.

The line behind you is growing. The cashier, clearly frustrated and wanting to speed things up, sighs loudly. Without asking, they reach over the counter, grab the card out of your sibling's hand, swipes it themself, and bark, "Just sign here, buddy." The cashier then looks past your sibling to you and asks, "Do they want the receipt in the bag?"

Your sibling got their groceries. The transaction was technically successful. No one was physically harmed and the cashier might even think they were "helping" everyone by making it faster. Why does your face flush with heat? Why does the word "buddy" feel like a slap in your sibling's face rather than a term of endearment?

If I were to ask you to respond to some of the questions asked in those examples, you might come up with answers like "it's a violation of rights" or "it's unjust." That's all well and good, but what do you mean by that? I invite you to go deeper.

What are rights if not the documented representations of a society's agreed upon definition of dignity? A documented representation that one can far more easily claim as "violated" than the abstract concept of dignity.

What are rights if not the documented representations of a society's agreed upon definition of dignity?

What is justice if not the upholding of those rights by restoration, protection, and retribution?

Without dignity, what need is there for rights and justice?

Hopefully we have pulled aside the veil of the sloganized terms like "violation of rights" and "injustice" and have discovered the shadowy, timid concept of dignity behind it. Yet even "dignity" can become a slogan we throw around haphazardly.

You might say the perpetrator in Example 3 "was without dignity" when they assaulted you. If that's the case, (apologies in advance for assuming) why did you likely have an answer to how many punches from your partner were too many? Why does it feel immoral to hospitalize or kill them? Could it be that their dignity, if even merely a shred, remains present and in tact enough to warrant a moderated vengeance?

Please note, my aim is not to excuse assault or any other form of abuse. Nor is it to ignore or minimize the suffering of survivors. Far from it. This discussion about a perpetrator's dignity (or lack thereof) is not one I would ever have with a survivor sitting across from me. However, in the context of these writings, it is something we must explore if we are going to contemplate authentically.

Now, if our excavation of dignity's definition is going to mean anything, we must not take the concept nor term for granted. To say, especially with confidence, that someone is "without dignity" when we don't truly mean it, will only stall us or set us back.

And yet our definition must not be so specific that it establishes biases about legitimacy, origin, and mechanics before we even explore them.

An aristocratic definition would say our dignity is based on earning and status.

Theologians from religions across the span of time and geography may say it's divinely bestowed.

A virtue-based definition, given by Aristotle, would claim that our dignity is fluid and molded by behavior.

Egalitarians, like Kant, would say it is inherent in everyone and non-exchangeable. To be candid, this, along with the theological frame, is where my current biases lean. While I will work to prevent them from influencing this exploration, I at least want us to be aware of them.

Anti-Realists, like Nietzsche, would say it's an illusion and that we may be wasting our time on this journey.

We will explore all these in greater detail later on, but each of them brings its own bias (albeit, a well-reasoned one) right out of the gate.

Given that we may need to slightly bias ourselves against the anti-realist position (otherwise there is no point in defining this at all), here is what I propose for a definition:

Dignity is the possessor's value capable of inspiring behavior-adjusting recognition in sentient beings.

Here are some notes that expand on the definition's nuances:

Now, let us hold this definition close enough that it steadily guides our exploration forward. Yet not so closely that we experience devastation if it changes. After all, as we delve deeper into these caverns, we may find ourselves needing to adjust our base definition. How amazing would that be?

I told you earlier on that you can expect this journey to be conversational. As such, I hope you will engage respectfully and curiously in comments and replies. An examination of dignity within the cosmos will prove far more fruitful if performed by the varied collective rather than one solitary, very amateur, wannabe philosopher.

I appreciate you taking the time to read this far. I hope it was inspiring of curiosity in some way. I also hope you will stay not just tuned in, but engaged as we solidify our why(s) in treating those around us, the world around us, and ourselves well.

Stay curious,

Caleb