ABSTRACT
This chapter focuses on the Preamble to the Punta del Este Declaration and provides an expanded explanation of the preambular paragraphs focusing on the meaning and scope of the concept of human dignity. The Preamble to the Punta del Este Declaration states background reasons and considerations that were viewed by the working group as explanations for the motivations behind the document and the reasons for promulgating it. The idea that human dignity is the foundational principle of human rights is developed further in Article 1 of the Punta del Este Declaration. The ambition of the Punta del Este Declaration is not to provide a definitive definition of human dignity, but rather it is to provide an invitation for discussions and analyses of human dignity from a variety of perspectives including political, philosophical, and religious perspectives. Some critics of human dignity have argued it is a concept that is too abstract or too vague to be practically useful.
