Hey guys! All good? I am Professor Leandro Cordioli and, today, in "Two Minutes of Philosophy", we are going to see what the dignity of the human person is.
Our Federal Constitution, in its first article, says that the Federative Republic of Brazil, formed by the indissoluble union of states, municipalities and the Federal District, constitutes a Democratic State of Law and has as its foundations sovereignty, citizenship and , in its 3rd section, the dignity of the human person. So, what is the dignity of the human person? Have you ever thought about it?
Let's see in "Two Minutes of Philosophy" what the dignity of the human person is. Don't forget to subscribe to the channel and activate the bell to be notified of future videos I will upload on the philosophy of law. Without further delay, let our clock begin!
The idea of conceiving the human being as endowed with a special value that distinguishes him from other beings began in the Old Testament, with the thesis of Imago Dei, which in Portuguese means "man was created in the image of God". This proposed that human beings had a special value and, as a result, could use Divine Creation — whether plants or animals — for their purposes and food. This thesis of the image of God, which culminated in the dignity of the human person, was explored throughout medieval philosophy, especially in Augustine and Thomas Aquinas.
But, finally, it was in Kant that this notion gained special adoption in his work Foundation of the Metaphysics of Morals. Kant summarized what dignity is in the following terms: "In the realm of ends, everything has either a price or a dignity. When a thing has a price, it can be replaced by another equivalent.
But when something is above any price and therefore does not admit equivalents, so it has dignity. " Kant conceived that autonomy, or rather, the rational capacity of the human being to legislate himself, is the foundation of the dignity of the human person. And this idea became universal in moral philosophy.
On the other hand, the 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights innovated by introducing, in its first article, the notion of human dignity as a universal value, owed to all human beings, regardless of race, religion, age or gender. The first article of the declaration says : "All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. Endowed with reason and conscience, they must act towards each other in a spirit of fraternity.
" All human beings, therefore, must be considered worthy in themselves, not subject to being replaced or having other more valuable things put in their place. However, this is still a formal concept. Professor John Finnis proposed a list of goods and values that constitute the core of the notion of human dignity.
He says that the values inherent to human beings, as dignified people, are the following: we must respect life and family; knowledge; the game, not just as a playful experience, but as an activity with no other purpose; the human being, as a dignified being, must have his capacity for apprehending beauty respected — that is, the aesthetic experience; justice and sociability, for human beings to live in community, are inherent aspects of their dignity; practical reasonableness, that is, integrity and autonomy are also another aspect; and, finally, religion, which is an inherent aspect of the human being. These were our "Two Minutes of Philosophy". We saw what the dignity of the human person is according to the Constitution, religion, morality and philosophy.
This is the value that is guaranteed as the foundation of the Republic in section 3 of the first article of our Federal Constitution of 1988. It is an intrinsic value to each of us, human beings, which is owed to everyone, regardless of race, gender, age or religious creed. Don't forget to like this video and share it with your friends to help spread the philosophy and this work that I've been developing here on the channel.
Finally, I would like to draw attention to one point and ask your opinion: did you know that this concept of human dignity, as it is basic and fundamental in the Federative Republic of Brazil, has been used abusively in the judiciary, whether by lawyers, prosecutors or even judges? When I say "in an abusive way", I am referring, for example, to the use of human dignity to guarantee the possession of household appliances by debtors. What do I mean by that?
If you are undergoing an execution process and are going to have your assets seized, the judges have considered, here in the Court of Rio Grande do Sul, that pawning your television, your washing machine or your dishwasher harms the person's dignity. human. Does human dignity really involve the ownership of household appliances?
Leave your opinion here in the comments. A big hug and have a good week. These are the votes of Professor Leandro Cordioli.
