The Issue of Human Dignity in the Past and Present of Russian Thought
The concept of human dignity (dignitas) dates back to Roman law. Originally denoting “worthiness”, the word “dignity” now stands for a fundamental category of human rights, with the coins’ value evolving into inherent dignity, ensured by equal rights. To cite Protagoras, if man is the measure of all things, dignity can be described as the measure of humanity. The human rights system promotes and protects human dignity through the protection of one’s right to a decent life. Vladimir Solovyev was the first Russian thinker to speak about this right. In his reply to French journalist Jules Huret’s questionnaire on social issues in Europe (1892), he wrote: “There is an intrinsic value in every human being, and one possesses an inalienable right to an existance, which is commensurate with one’s human dignity”. The concept of dignity is one of the pillars of “The Basis of the Social Concept of the Russian Orthodox Church” (2000), with references to it made in Chapter X “Personal, family and public morality”. This document links human dignity to the human individual being in the image of God, through this establishing the foundation of true theonomous ethics, natural law. The value of human dignity has also been mentioned in the “Russian Orthodox Church’s Basic Teaching on Human Dignity, Freedom and Human Rights” (2008), which specifically examines the concept of human rights.