PT  - JOURNAL ARTICLE
AU  - M Häyry
TI  - The tension between self governance and absolute inner worth in Kant’s moral philosophy
AID  - 10.1136/jme.2004.010058
DP  - 2005 Nov 01
TA  - Journal of Medical Ethics
PG  - 645--647
VI  - 31
IP  - 11
4099  - http://jme.bmj.com/content/31/11/645.short
4100  - http://jme.bmj.com/content/31/11/645.full
SO  - J Med Ethics2005 Nov 01; 31
AB  - The concepts of autonomy as the self governance of individuals and dignity as the inner worth of human beings play an important role in contemporary bioethics. Since both notions are crucial to Immanuel Kant’s moral theory, it would be tempting to think that Kantian ethics could ease the friction between the two concepts. It is argued in this paper, however, that this line of thought cannot be supported by Kant’s original ideas. While he did make a conscious effort to bring autonomy and dignity together, his emphasis on the absolute inner worth of our collective humanity made it impossible for him to embrace fully the personal self determination of individuals, as it is usually understood in today’s liberal thinking.