Dialektik der Würde

Overview & Synopsis

In contrast to autonomy-centered conceptions of dignity, this study develops a vulnerability-theoretical understanding as the basis for a social concept of freedom. Human dignity is grounded in being a vulnerable natural being, not in the capacity for autonomy as a rational being. Subjectivity is constituted through recognition by the conscience, which drives the realization of freedom not through self-empowerment, but through conscience-guided self-restriction in relation to suffering nature.