The Nature of Dignity

by Ron Bontekoe

Overview

The Nature of Dignity is a highly interdisciplinary work of philosophy that focuses primarily on the form of dignity (or nobility of demeanor) that individuals exhibit to varying degrees, rather than the form of dignity that we tend to presume we always already possess simply by virtue of being human. The book contends that the Enlightenment assumptions that have traditionally been appealed to in elucidating our conceptions of human dignity are no longer tenable—most importantly because of what we know about evolutionary biology, but also in light of certain dominant strains in modern political-economic theory. The book argues that, nonetheless, dignity is a value to which we should remain committed, and offers a new set of conceptual underpinnings with which to replace the no longer tenable Enlightenment assumptions of Kant, Locke, and others on this subject.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780739124079
Publisher:	Lexington Books
Publication date:	02/28/2008
Pages:	324
Product dimensions:	6.34(w) x 9.37(h) x 1.16(d)

About the Author

Ron Bontekoe is professor of philosophy at the University of Hawaii.

Table of Contents

Part 1 Dignity in Eclipse
Part 2 The Nature of Dignity: A Preliminary Inquiry
Part 3 Implications of Human Finitude
Part 4 Tragedy and Sacrifice
Part 5 Dignity and the Struggle for Survival: Evolutionary Biology
Part 6 Dignity and the Struggle for Survival: Political Economics
Part 7 Why Embrace the Regulative Ideals?

Editorial Reviews

The Nature of Dignity is dedicated to an inquiry about what Ron Bontekoe calls achieved dignity, the dignity that lies in what we’ve made of ourselves, not just in the mere fact of our humanity. The philosophy here is richly informed by an extensive interdisciplinary approach that challenges many of the old platitudes about dignity. It should breathe life into an important concept.

George W. Harris

The Nature of Dignity by Ron Bontekoe is a moving treatment of an important topic. It informs and offers much to ponder.

Michael Ruse

A sustained analysis of the eclipse of the concept of human dignity by Enlightenment thought and its' deepening in post-Enlightenment corporate capitalist societies....The book develops the argument that dignity as virtue has a conceptually strong relationship to the pursuit of the regulative ideals of truth and justice.

Metapsychology Online

A sustained analysis of the eclipse of the concept of human dignity by Enlightenment thought and its' deepening in post-Enlightenment corporate capitalist societies....The book develops the argument that dignity as virtue has a conceptually strong relationship to the pursuit of the regulative ideals of truth and justice.

Metapsychology Online Reviews

The Nature of Dignity is dedicated to an inquiry about what Ron Bontekoe calls achieved dignity, the dignity that lies in what we've made of ourselves, not just in the mere fact of our humanity. The philosophy here is richly informed by an extensive interdisciplinary approach that challenges many of the old platitudes about dignity. It should breathe life into an important concept.--George W. Harris, College of William and Mary

A sustained analysis of the eclipse of the concept of human dignity by Enlightenment thought and its' deepening in post-Enlightenment corporate capitalist societies....The book develops the argument that dignity as virtue has a conceptually strong relationship to the pursuit of the regulative ideals of truth and justice.--Metapsychology Online

The Nature of Dignity by Ron Bontekoe is a moving treatment of an important topic. It informs and offers much to ponder.--Michael Ruse, Florida State University

From the Publisher