Citation

Daly TTW. Ethics and Medicine 2013; 29(3): 151-165.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2013)

DOI

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PMID

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Abstract

In recent bioethical debates, the term 'dignity' has proven to be frustratingly amenable to radically diverse interpretations. Christian ethicists commonly appeal to human dignity to oppose euthanasia while their opponents appeal to dignity in support of euthanasia, as evidenced by the Swiss assisted suicide organization Dignitas. As a result, some have called for the abandonment of this term in favor of something more intelligible, like 'autonomy.' Drawing upon the work of Alistair MacIntyre and Allen Verhey, I will examine the underlying cultural myths that both contribute to the confusion over dignity and render these competing accounts more intelligible, arguing that the equivocation surrounding the notion of dignity stems from the incommensurability of the competing worldviews from which the term dignity gains meaning. If the ultimate intelligibility of dignity must be situated within a metanarrative that renders some account of the human creature, including an understanding of human flourishing, then Christians should develop a more theological understanding of dignity with explicit reference to a Christian metanarrative centered on the redemptive activity of Christ, and the inherently metaphysical claims that come with such a metanarrative.

Language: en