Dignified Disciplinarity: Towards a Transdisciplinary Understanding of Human Dignity
Christopher McCrudden (ed.), Understanding Human Dignity, Oxford University Press (British Academy Series), 2013
Posted: 2 May 2013
Date Written: May 1, 2013
Abstract
The concept of human dignity irritates disciplinary discourse as it forces us, on the one hand, to think about the connections between ‘different’ analytical and conceptual frameworks and, on the other, to take seriously the exhaustion of individual disciplines’ vocabulary and established patterns of construction.
Interdisciplinarity has now (finally) also in the legal field become a buzzword, attracting funders and scholars alike. Yet, conceptually and methodologically the term remains often obscure and ambiguous — not unlike the concept of dignity itself. That obscurity prompts a more profound inquiry into various disciplinary approaches and engagements with the term and concept of human dignity.
Human dignity as a concept does not — and should not — break down boundaries between otherwise distinct discourses, disciplines, and theories of normative orders. But it should be used to call our established reference frameworks into question and to encourage a more dignified disciplinarity. If we cultivate such reflexivity, any reference to the concept of human dignity prompts the inclusion of competing disciplinary interpretations, allowing us to cope in a more dignified manner with the challenges of pluralism and competing values and traditions.
Keywords: Dignity, Human Dignity, Comparative Constitutionalism, Public Law, Legal Philosophy, Interdisciplinarity, Transdisciplinarity
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