The Usefulness of the Legal Concept of Human Dignity in the Human Rights Discourse: Literature Review

• Main Author: Borja Fernandez Burgueño
• Format: Article
• Language: Catalan
• Published: Universitat de Barcelona 2016-04-01
• Series: Oxímora. Revista Internacional de Ética y Política
• Subjects: Dignity, Human rights, Democracy
• Online Access: http://revistes.ub.edu/index.php/oximora/article/view/15472

This paper will evaluate the convenience of using the legal concept of human dignity in the human rights discourse and its effectiveness to address injustice in a twenty-first century democratic society. This article will argue that the difficulty of defining human dignity does not diminish its merits and allows it to be both solid and adaptable to new challenges. Then, this paper will argue that human dignity is a powerful concept due to its capacity to bring change and modernise society and will conclude that there is a strong relationship between time, human dignity, human rights and democracy.