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• Ancient conceptions of dignity. The secular sacred.
  Peter H.M Brooks
  Published on: 18 May 2017

• Published on: 18 May 2017

  Ancient conceptions of dignity. The secular sacred.

  • Peter H.M Brooks, Co-Chair clinical ethics committee

  Dignity need not be coupled with theology. The South African offence of 'crimen injuria' is the offence defined as the act of "unlawfully, intentionally and seriously impairing the dignity of another."

  It is based on the 'Latin phrase crimen iniuriae, which should mean 'accusation of abusive behaviour' ( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crimen_injuria ).

  The search for an understanding of a secular basis...

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  Dignity need not be coupled with theology. The South African offence of 'crimen injuria' is the offence defined as the act of "unlawfully, intentionally and seriously impairing the dignity of another."

  It is based on the 'Latin phrase crimen iniuriae, which should mean 'accusation of abusive behaviour' ( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crimen_injuria ).

  The search for an understanding of a secular basis for the notion of 'dignity' could benefit from an examination of Roman and South African case law.

  The word itself goes back to the Roman 'dignitas', a strongly related notion, that also may be worth examining to gain a secular picture (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dignitas_(Roman_concept) ).

  This article ( http://athensdialogues.chs.harvard.edu/cgi- bin/WebObjects/athensdialogues.woa/wa/dist?dis=22 ) on three types of dignity considers, inter alia, the Ancient Greek model, which would have informed the Roman.

  In support of the universality of the notion if dignity, it is wirth noting that it also appears in the Chinese and Japanese constitutions: http://www.chinahumanrights.org/cshrs/Developments/t20130206_1037860.htm

  The specific question of how dignity relates to the treatment of the dead is, I think, related, but separate. A corpse, in Roman law, is a res nullius, a thing that belongs to nobody, which attracts only duties, not rights. Organ transplant from corpses, of course, complicates this because a human organ can be possessed, and has value, possibly even monetary value, but this does not relate to dignity.

  The inarticulate, or instinctive, belief, or feeling, that corpses are special, and must be treated with respect, relates more to the notion of the 'sacred', which also exists in a secular sense. This sense relates to aesthesics and sentimental preciousness, rather than to dedication to the gods, but is a real and important human universal.

  The question of the treatment of the deceased might be considered as part of the wider question of what, in a secular world, is sacred - a question that most certainly does not have the answer 'nothing'.

  Conflict of Interest:

  None declared

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  Conflict of Interest:
  None declared.

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