Human Dignity as an Ontological and Social Construct (Essay Sample)

Human Dignity as an Ontological and Social Construct
Name
Institutional Affiliation
Instructor’s Name
Course Name and Number
Due Date
Can human dignity be defended from its ontological fundamentals, or could it be understood as a social construct and thus, particular and questioned?
There are two leading conceptions of human dignity. The first one, known as democratic conception (Song, 2015), views human dignity ontologically, grounding it on human nature as an individual rational substance. This view holds that dignity belongs to all humans because all human beings exist as individual rational entities (Seifert, 1997). Dignity is thus absolute and independent of any specific quality, character, or behavior. It is assured in all human beings equally by the mere virtue of existing, meaning dignity cannot be damaged or disowned. The second one, known as meritocratic conception (Song, 2015), views dignity as a term of distinction dependent on merits, honors, and status. This view holds that dignity differs from person to person. One can acquire or lose dignity contingent on how they conduct themselves in society (Addis, 2013).
The idea that dignity is merely a term that captures the concept of human autonomy is underwhelming. Non-autonomous individuals and things can also have dignity. One might argue that a fetus, an embryo, a dead body, or even a human organ deserve to be treated in a certain way without assigning autonomy to them. In this sense, one would argue that there is some form of meaningful dignity that is not contingent on autonomy. In this sense, one would argue that dignity reflects a moral status/social construct conferred to human beings by other human beings. Specifically, autonomous moral agents decide, despite lost autonomy, one cannot eat the dead, sell body parts of the deceased, or even experiment on people in a persistent vegetative state or are post-coma unresponsive.
Thus, one would argue that dignity is a social and moral construct. It refers to the status placed on others by moral agents—both autonomo