Introduction Remy Debes Chapter 1. Dignity in Homer and Classical Greece Patrice Rankine Chapter 2. Dignity in Roman and Stoic Thought Miriam Griffin Reflection: Dignity in Confucian and Buddhist Thought David Wong Chapter 3. Dignity After the Fall Bonnie Kent Chapter 4. Islamic Conceptions of Dignity: Historical Trajectories and Paradigms Mustafa Shah Chapter 5. Dignity, Vile Bodies and Nakedness: Giovanni Pico and Giannozzo Manetti Brian Copenhaver Reflection: Portraiture, Social Positioning, and Displays of Dignity in Early Modern London Edward Town Chapter 6. Equal Dignity and Rights Stephen Darwall Chapter 7. Human Dignity Before Kant: Denis Diderot's Passionate Person Remy Debes Chapter 8. Dignity: Kant's Revolutionary Conception Oliver Sensen Reflection: A Time For Dignity Charles Mills Chapter 9. Bourgeois Dignity: Making the Self-Made Man Christine Henderson Reflection: Taking refuge from history in morality: Marx, Morality, and Dignity Somogy Varga Chapter 10. Universalizing Dignity in the Nineteenth Century Mikka LaVaque-Manty Reflection: Why Bioethics isn't Ready for Human Dignity Marcus Düwell Chapter 11. Sympathy and Dignity in Early Africana Philosophy Bernie Boxill Reflection: Death and Dignity in American Law Emma Kaufman

"...a fascinating book that will enrich one's understanding of this important philosophical concept. Anyone interested in the history of dignity, or ethics in general, could benefit from this book." --Nicholas R. Baima, Bryn Mawr Classical Review "In addition to tracing the roots of the concept of dignity from classical Greek and Roman writers through medieval Christian doctrine and early modern philosophy, Debes (philosophy, Univ. of Memphis) includes observations from Eastern thought and Islamic scholarship. He opens the volume with a helpful introductory overview and concludes with a discussion of dignity as an important part of current issues in bioethics and current concerns related to race, capital punishment, and modern jurisprudence... Recommended."--C. L. Hansen, CHOICE

Selling point: The first volume dedicated solely to the history of dignity with essays from prominent scholars with humanities Selling point: Challenges existing platitudes about the history of dignity Selling point: Includes several Reflections, written by top scholars in classics, history, art, and law examining representations of dignity Selling point: Takes on Kant's concept of dignity, Roman notions of dignitas, and Christian teachings about the doctrine of 'imago Dei' Selling point: Part of the Oxford Philosophical Concepts series - The History of Philosophy's Most Important Ideas

Remy Debes is Associate Professor of Philosophy at the University of Memphis. He has published on a wide variety of areas in moral theory, including human dignity, respect, metaethics, moral psychology, empathy, and understanding. He has also published a variety of articles and chapters in the history of ethics, especially on the work of David Hume and Adam Smith. He is the co-editor of Ethical Sentimentalism, forthcoming from Cambridge University Press.

Selling point: The first volume dedicated solely to the history of dignity with essays from prominent scholars with humanities Selling point: Challenges existing platitudes about the history of dignity Selling point: Includes several Reflections, written by top scholars in classics, history, art, and law examining representations of dignity Selling point: Takes on Kant's concept of dignity, Roman notions of dignitas, and Christian teachings about the doctrine of 'imago Dei' Selling point: Part of the Oxford Philosophical Concepts series - The History of Philosophy's Most Important Ideas