Citizenship and Dignity

25 Pages Posted: 4 Jan 2013 Last revised: 28 Jan 2013

See all articles by Jeremy Waldron

Jeremy Waldron

New York University School of Law

Date Written: January 3, 2013

Abstract

Theories of dignity have to navigate between two conceptions: the egalitarian idea of human dignity and the old idea of dignitas, connected with hierarchy, rank, and office. One possible way of bridging the gap between the two is to talk of the dignity of the citizen. In modern republics and democracies, the dignity of the citizen extends to a large sector of the population and connotes something about the general quality of the relation between the government and the governed. This chapter first explores Immanuel Kant’s account of the dignity of the citizen, and then it pursues the implications of the dignity of the citizen for modern society and modern theories of human dignity. Though the dignity of the citizen and human dignity are not the same concept, they are congruent in many respects and the former casts considerable light on the latter — in particular on the connection between dignity and responsibility and dignity and transparency in social and political relations.

Keywords: citizenship, contractarianism, dignity, human dignity, Kant, responsibilities, transparency

Suggested Citation

Waldron, Jeremy, Citizenship and Dignity (January 3, 2013). NYU School of Law, Public Law Research Paper No. 12-74, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2196079 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.2196079

Jeremy Waldron (Contact Author)

New York University School of Law ( email )

40 Washington Square South
New York, NY 10012-1099
United States

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