ABSTRACT
The ordinary discourse on human rights is premised on the claim that those rights are inherent in our condition as human beings. The “inherence view”1 suggests that those rights capture something that is fundamentally binding, “dignity”. In the words of Perry, “the inherent dignity has a normative force for us, in this sense: we should live our lives in accordance with the fact that every human being has inherent dignity”.2 At first sight, it seems as if “dignity” requires no theoretical defence. It is obvious. “Dignity” is used not only to identify human rights among other rights and values; it also allows us to justify them normatively. “Dignity” illuminates the binding force that human rights have upon us.
