Human_Dignity

Human Dignity Human Dignity Theory A German philosopher Immanuel Kant thought that people occupy a special place in creation. This is an old idea from ancient times; people have considered themselves to be different from all other creatures and not just different but better. Here’s a fact, people have traditionally thought of themselves to be fabulous. Kant did. On his view, people have “an intrinsic worth” in other word “dignity” which makes them valuable “above all price”. Other animals have a value only as much as they serve the peoples purpose. Kant said, “But so far as animals are concerned, we have no direct duties. Animals…are there merely as means to an end. That end is man,” Lectures on Ethics (1779). We can use animals in any way we please. We do not have to back off from torturing them. Kant does mention that it is wrong to torture animals, but his reason is we might suffer indirectly as a result of it, because “he who is cruel to animals becomes hard also in his dealings with men.” So Kant’s view is mere animals have no moral importance and people are another story. people, value, kant, animals, moral, means, rational, kant’s, idea, human, end, dignity, things, price, money, way, view, reason, never, law, good, ends, beings, because, about, worth, world, valuable, thought, themselves, said, purposes, place, own, need