ABSTRACT
This chapter articulates and defends a "constructivist" conception of dignity that dispenses with anthropocentrism or what we can call metaphysical chauvinism on the part of Homo sapiens. In order to lay out this "constructivist" conception of dignity, it articulates a conception of human freedom that overcomes the ontological atomism, or moral individualism, that has characterized the political morality of most modern political philosophy. The key claim is that a constructivist conception of dignity requires a proper understanding of human freedom, one that is provided by a discourse ethics conception of communicative freedom. The oldest meaning of dignity is related to the status, standing, or office of someone who has by merit, delegation, or appointment been raised to that height. The chapter concludes by quoting one of the United States' most important legal thinkers, Ronald Dworkin: We live in and by the law. It makes us what we are: citizens and employees and doctors and spouses and people who own things.
