Philosophy Now Forum

The morning musing.

Premise: Dignity is inherent to human nature.

Sophisticates such as POTUS Trump know that attacks upon inherent dignity is a potent weapon against sophisticates who themselves use that weapon in one of three ways.

- In personal interactions, attack upon the dignity of another is an aggressive, pre-emptive defense of one’s own dignity.
- In a predatory universe, attacks upon the dignity of the other is a test of the other’s attachment to, and conditioning by, their own inherencies.
- In professional political interactions, attack upon the dignity of an opponent is also a test, and a tactic to reveal that the emperor has no clothes. This is revealed in political debates, when the dignified winner has tested the opponents' readiness for the big leagues, and then turns worthy opponents into allies, such as what happened between Donald Trump and Marco Rubio.

Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy
https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/dignity/

Dignity
The early modern concept of dignity originates with Immanuel Kant, who in his 1785 Groundwork for the Metaphysics of Morals, argued that all persons have an inherent value, or dignity, in virtue of their rational autonomy. This value commands a distinct kind of moral respect, which we express by abiding by certain limits in our treatment of others. Thus, Kant argued that we have a categorical duty to treat persons always “as an end” and “never merely as a means” (Groundwork, 4:429).

Question: When a US Senator goes to work dressed like a gym rat, what is the dignity being expressed? How about neck and facial tattoos for those who need them? How about drag queens who need to be flamboyant? What is the dignity being expressed?

Is the expression of dignity for each, the principle of The Dignity of the Individual taking precedence over social conventions? Paradoxically, virtual communities would be the last place to find such Individuals, but the inherent human need for external confirmation, by society, tips the scales away from the paradox.

Any other thoughts about the topic?

I just can't dig it man...

dignity without a shovel isn't easy

Fetterman has no style and illustrates his party's lack of decorum...

-Imp

Fetterman sounds like a fifties Democrat awakening to the sixties.

Not much activity or hot diggity dog for the dignity, which perhaps indicates a foreign, unknown concept for PN, or perhaps a lack of relevance to ethics. Interestingly enough, the combination of confidence, grace and vulnerability in the walk and stance of the Maltese Lion Dog matches the inherent physical dignity that six foot eight generates in humans, although the latter has the bonus of physical intimidation which also requires a blending of humbleness with pride in the carriage in order to generate dignity.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gOCNY9p ... rt_radio=1

right, Fetterman is closer to JFK than any democrat LBJ and after

(I wouldn't recommend Fetterman riding in a convertible in any parade...)

-Imp

Impenitent wrote: ↑Mon Jul 07, 2025 3:20 pm right, Fetterman is closer to JFK than any democrat LBJ and after

LOL, I have the advantage of being older, memory going back.

Let's see. LBJ became president in 1963. Senator Strom Thurmond (SC) didn't switch to the Republican Party till 1964. When I was young, there were lots of social conservatives in the Democrat Party, and most Republicans were more liberal on social issues than many Democrats. I remember the "Dixiecrats".

Whence Dignitas.