Abstract

This article tackles the question of what makes human dignity so central in human morality and law, focusing not on specific understandings of human dignity but rather on the concept's universal significance. It argues that of importance are the singularity of human existence in the universe and in life, the manifestation of individuality in ethics and morality in general, and the awareness of these characteristics as grounded in the fundamental natural and societal conditions for human beings. Further, this article maintains that such a status of human dignity is a foundational focus of the broader normative space that has evolved throughout human history; that normative points of human dignity can be globalized in the process of communicative networking; and thus that human dignity is a fundamental, universal, and shared human condition constituting a global common good.