on
human dignity
George
Kateb’s Human dignity (Harvard University Press, 2011) is
not an easy treatise to read. Common feature of a philosopher’s
writing but tiresome nevertheless. And the more arguable the
statement, the longer the sentence. Now, wait, it’s not what I
intend to comment on - I’m aiming on the point about Kateb using
human/animal comparison to boost human stature.
"Apparent
similarities there do not establish that the word emotion can be
used in exactly the same way about animals and human beings. ...
Animals have no language and therefore no inwardness that makes a
difference to what they do. ... Language is the key to human unique-
ness. ... From language comes thinking, a trait that is essential to
free agency and moral agency as well as to human stature in general
..." - Kateb bubbles. Wrong (mostly). Those are Kateb’s
assumptions rather than established facts: his claims would be
nonsense even if he were being honest about the current knowledge on
the subject, which he isn’t.
"Individual
members of the human species matter existentially more than members
of all other species; human beings have an incomparably higher
dignity. They matter more because of what they are: members of the
human species with the unique and incomparable traits and attributes
of the species. In being partly and commen- dably nonnatural, a
human beings has an incomparably higher status than any
animal." - and so on by Kateb. What a textbook example of
circular reasoning - with one very drastic exclusion: humans are nonnatural
! |
Golden
lion tamarin at Apenheul, Apeldoorn, the Netherlands, making a well
known gesture with it's middle finger when asked to comment on human
dignity
http://www.flickr.com/photos/jinterwas/5644740254 |
One
thing’s for sure: although Kateb brings the notion that "an
infinitely greater mind created the human mind and the rest of
nature" as another philosopher’s thought, he is there.
Naturally, out of nonnatural species.
"Unlike
humanity, nature does not exist to itself; it is not
self-conscious ... The human species is irreplaceable because ...
the stewardship of nature is a contribution |
that
only humanity can make" - Kateb writes and then, some dozen
lines further, states "I do not rely on traditional answers
that any religion gives to the question of humanity’s rank".
Oh, really, how about "God Yahweh took the man and put him in
the Garden of Eden to serve and preserve it." in the second
chapter of Genesis [WEEKLY]. It sounds just like Kateb’s
stewardship. |