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Human Dignity

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Encyclopedia of Contemporary Constitutionalism

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Abstract

Human dignity is a complex idea. Its legal prominence, both internationally and nationally, hides its mere philosophical and moral foundations. As a legal promise, it features most prominently in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) of 1948 and the German Basic Law (GG) of 1949, both boostering their promise with “inherency” (UDHR) and “inviolability” (GG). Yet dignity is not and has never been, in and of itself, a legal concept, and therefore, the following contribution is committed to dignities in legal history and the “belated” (Habermas, The Concept of Human Dignity and the Realistic Utopia of Human Rights, Metaphilosophy 41: 464–480 = Habermas, Jürgen. 2012. The Concept of Human Dignity and the Realistic Utopia of Human Rights. In Philosophical Dimensions of Human Rights, Some Contemporary Views, ed. Claudio Corradetti, 63–79. Heidelberg/London: Springer. 2010, p. 465 f.) constitutional careers of human dignity before and after WWII. Paradox complexities of human dignity in legal practice are also discussed here.

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  1. University of Passau, Passau, Germany

    Ulrike Müßig

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  1. Cremades & Calvo-Sotelo Abogados, Madrid, Madrid, Spain

    Javier Cremades

  2. Public Law II & Philology, Universidad Rey Juan Carlos, Madrid, Madrid, Spain

    Cristina Hermida

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    Luca Mezzetti

  2. Cremades & Calvo-Sotelo, Madrid, Spain

    Teodora Toma

  3. Department of Legal Studies, University of Bologna, Bologna, Italy

    Caterina Drigo

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Müßig, U. (2022). Human Dignity. In: Cremades, J., Hermida, C. (eds) Encyclopedia of Contemporary Constitutionalism. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-31739-7_141-1

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