Syllabus

Reading Schedule

Handouts & Assignments

Study Questions

Paper Topics

Internet Links

It is widely thought that human beings have a dignity—"human dignity", it’s been called—that governs the way we can legitimately treat each other. This notion has appeared in many of our readings: C.S. Lewis, Walter Berns, Hugo A. Bedau, Helen Prejean, and Charles Colson have all mentioned it, and it plays a significant role in their arguments concerning the legitimacy of capital punishment. Accordingly, it’s worth thinking about this notion of human dignity for a bit.

1. What does the phrase ‘human dignity’ mean to you? What, in other words, does it mean to say that human beings have a special sort of dignity? How ought people who have human dignity be treated?

2. Can this human dignity be lost, forfeited, given away, or taken away? Explain why or why not.

3. Do considerations arising out of the notion of human dignity settle the question of the legitimacy of capital punishment for you? Explain.