HU Credits: 2

Degree/Cycle: 2nd degree (Master)

Responsible Department: Law

Semester: 1st Semester

Teaching Languages: English

Campus: Mt. Scopus

Course/Module Coordinator: Dr. Doron Shultziner

Coordinator Email: doron.shultziner@mail.huji.ac.il

Coordinator Office Hours: Wednesday, 12:00-13:00

Teaching Staff:
Dr. Doron Shultziner

Course/Module description:
This course explores the meanings and functions of ‘human dignity’ in a comparative and inter-disciplinary perspective. The course provides a critical and complex understanding of how the concept has developed, has been used, and should be used in constitutional and legal contexts. We begin the course by identifying the intellectual origins of human dignity and mapping its meanings in philosophical discourse. We will explore developments in the uses and functions of human dignity in national constitutions from the 20th century to present day. We will learn the logic of drafting constitutional articles, and practice those principles on articles containing the concept of dignity in multiple functions. The course also gives tools to understand how justices employ the concept in various ways. Among the other topics the course covers are a psychological approach to human dignity as self-worth, dignity in medical ethics, dignity in prisons, and the uses of dignity by the Israeli Supreme Court.

Course/Module aims:
To understand the different functions and meanings of human dignity in legal and political parlance.
To be able to analyze the uses of the term in legal rulings.

Learning outcomes - On successful completion of this module, students should be able to:
1. Understand the history and development of human dignity in legal parlance
2. Understand the meanings and legal functions of human dignity
3. Be familiar with the different approaches and applications of the concept
4. Be familiar with subject areas in which the concept has been applied
5. Be able to analyze uses of the concept in court rulings and legal instruments
6. Be able to draft and analyze constitutional articles containing the concept of dignity.

Attendance requirements(%):
100

Teaching arrangement and method of instruction: Frontal lectures and class discussions.

Course/Module Content:
MEETING 1 (CLASSES 1-2): HISTORICAL & INTELLECTUAL ORIGINS; FUNCTIONS AND MEANINGS OF HUMAN DIGNITY
MEETING 2 (CLASSES 3-4): HUMAN DIGNITY IN INTERNATIONAL INSTRUMENTS; DIGNITY IN NATIONAL CONSTITUTIONS (and class exercise)
MEETING 3 (CLASSES 5-6): HUMAN DIGNITY IN LEGAL INTERPRETATION AND JUDICIAL DECISIONS
MEETING 4 (CLASSES 7-8): A PSYCHOLOGICAL APPROACH TO HUMAN DIGNITY
MEETING 5 (CLASSES 11-12): HUMAN DIGNITY IN SECURITY INSTITUTIONS
MEETING 6 (CLASSES 10-11): HUMAN DIGNITY IN ISRAEL: CONSTITUTIONAL, POLITICAL, AND INTERPRETATIVE ISSUES
MEETING 7 (CLASSES 11-12): HUMAN DIGNITY IN MEDICAL ETHICS; CONCLUSIONS

Required Reading:
MEETING 1 (CLASSES 1-2): HISTORICAL & INTELLECTUAL ORIGINS; FUNCTIONS AND MEANINGS OF HUMAN DIGNITY
Class Reading:
McCrudden, Christopher. 2008. Human Dignity and Judicial Interpretation of Human Rights. European Journal of International Law, 19(4). Pages 656-663.

Additional recommended reading:
Shultziner, Doron. 2003. Human Dignity – Functions and Meanings. Global Jurist Topics, 3(3), Pages 1-18.
Arieli, Yehoshua. 2002. On the Necessary and Sufficient Conditions for the Emergence of the Dignity of Man and His Rights. In The Concept of Human Dignity in Human Rights Discourse, edited by D. Kretzmer and E. Klein. Hague: Kluwer Law International.
Schachter, Oscar. 1983. Human Dignity as a Normative Concept. American Journal of International Law 77(4): 848-854.
Cohn, H. Haim. 1983. On the Meaning of Human Dignity. Israel YearBook on Human Rights 13: 226-251.
Spiegelberg, Herbert. 1970. Human Dignity: A Challenge to Contemporary Philosophy. In Human Dignity: This Century and the Next, edited by R. Gotesky and E. Laszlo. New York: Gordon and Breach.

MEETING 2 (CLASSES 3-4): HUMAN DIGNITY IN INTERNATIONAL INSTRUMENTS; DIGNITY IN NATIONAL CONSTITUTIONS (and class exercise)
Class Reading:
Heath, Benton J. (2013) Mapping Expansive Uses of Human Dignity in International Criminal Law. In Vöneky S., Beylage-Haarmann B., Höfelmeier A., Hübler AK. (eds) Ethics and Law - The Ethicalization of Law. Berlin, Heidelberg: Springer.
Raz, Joseph. 1979. The Rule of Law and its Virtue. In The authority of law: Essays on law and morality. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Shultziner, Doron and Guy Carmi. 2014. Human Dignity in National Constitutions: Promises and Dangers. American Journal of Comparative Law 62: 461-490.

Additional recommended reading:
Kamir, Orit. 2002. Honor and Dignity Cultures: The Case of Kavod and Kvod Ha-Adam in Israeli Society and Law. In The Concept of Human Dignity in Human Rights Discourse, edited by D. Kretzmer and E. Klein. Hague: Kluwer Law International. Pages 238-245.
Dicke, Klaus. 2002. The Founding Function of Human Dignity in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. In The Concept of Human Dignity in Human Rights Discourse, edited by D. Kretzmer and E. Klein. Hague: Kluwer Law International. Pages 114-119.
Abdul, A. S. 1979. Human Rights in Islamic Perspectives. In A. Pollis & P. Schwab (Eds.), Human rights: cultural and ideological perspectives. New York: Praeger.
Donnelly, Jack. 1982. Human Rights and Human Dignity: An Analytic Critique of Non-Western Conceptions of Human Rights. American Political Science Review 76(2): 303-16.
Howard, Rhoda and Jack Donnelly. 1986. Human Dignity, Human Rights and Political Regimes. American Political Science Review 80(3), September.
Zhang, Qianfan F. 2007. Human Dignity in Classical Chinese Philosophy: Reinterpreting Mohism. Journal of Chinese Philosophy, 34(2), 239-255.
Pitt-Rivers, Julian. 1966. Honour and Social Status. In Honour and Shame: The Values of Mediterranean Society, ed. J. G. Péristiany. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.

MEETING 3 (CLASSES 5-6): HUMAN DIGNITY IN LEGAL INTERPRETATION AND JUDICIAL DECISIONS
Class Reading:
McCrudden, Christopher. 2008. Human Dignity and Judicial Interpretation of Human Rights. European Journal of International Law, 19(4). Pages 680-694, 697-724.
Shultziner, Doron. 2017. Cardozo Journal of International & Comparative Law 25.

Additional recommended reading:
Wexler, D. B. 2008. Two Decades of Therapeutic Jurisprudence. Touro Law Review 24: 17-29.
Bay, Christian. 1982. Self-Respect as a Human Right: Thoughts on the Dialectics of Wants and Needs in the Struggle for Human Community Source. Human Rights Quarterly 4(1): 53-75.

MEETING 4 (CLASSES 7-8): A PSYCHOLOGICAL APPROACH TO HUMAN DIGNITY
Class Reading:
Weisstub, David. 2002. Honor, Dignity and the Framing of Multiculturalist Values. In The Concept of Human Dignity in Human Rights Discourse, edited by D. Kretzmer and E. Klein. Hague: Kluwer Law International. Pages 273-279.
Shultziner, Doron and Rabinovici, Itai. 2012. Human Dignity, Self-Worth, and Humiliation: A Comparative Legal-Psychological Approach. Psychology, Public Policy and Law 18(1): 105-143.

Additional Recommended readings:
Statman, Daniel. 2002. Humiliation, Dignity and Self-Respect. In The Concept of Human Dignity in Human Rights Discourse, edited by D. Kretzmer and E. Klein. Hague: Kluwer Law International.


MEETING 5 (CLASSES 11-12): HUMAN DIGNITY IN SECURITY INSTITUTIONS

Class Reading:
Singer, Richard G. 1972. Privacy, Autonomy, and Dignity in the Prison: A Preliminary Inquiry Concerning Constitutional Aspects of the Degradation Process in our Prisons. Buffalo Law Review 21, Pages 669-671, 684-685, 693-710.
Ar’el, Rachela and Doron Shultziner. 2017. Human Dignity and the Prison System. In Human Dignity, Human Rights and Criminal Law in Israel and Germany, eds. Mordechai Kremnitzer and Eric Hilgendorf.

MEETING 6 (CLASSES 10-11): HUMAN DIGNITY IN ISRAEL: CONSTITUTIONAL, POLITICAL, AND INTERPRETATIVE ISSUES
Class Reading:
Kretzmer, David. 2002. Human Dignity in Israeli Jurisprudence. In The Concept of Human Dignity in Human Rights Discourse, edited by D. Kretzmer and E. Klein. Hague: Kluwer Law International. Pages 161-175.
Brest, Paul. 1980. “Accommodation of the Majoritarianism and Rights of Human Dignity.” Southern California Law Review 53: Pages 761-764.

Additional recommended readings:
Shultziner, Doron. (2006). A Jewish Conception of Human Dignity: Philosophy and its Ethical Implications for Israeli Supreme Court Decisions. Journal of Religious Ethics, 34(4): 672-680.


MEETING 7 (CLASSES 11-12): HUMAN DIGNITY IN MEDICAL ETHICS; CONCLUSIONS
Barilan, Yechiel. 2012. Human Dignity, Human Rights, and Responsibility. MIT Press. pp. 104-122.
Annas, G. J., Andrews, L. B., & Isasi, R. M. 2002. Protecting the endangered human: toward an international treaty prohibiting cloning and inheritable alterations. American Journal of Law & Medicine, 28(2-3): 151-178.
Macklin, Ruth. 2003. Dignity is a useless concept. British Medical Journal 327(7429): 1419-1420.
Pinker, Steven. “The Stupidity of Dignity: Conservative bioethics' latest, most dangerous ploy” New Republic 28 May 2008. http://www.tnr.com/article/the-stupidity-dignity
Law on Human Cloning

Further recommended readings:
Luban, D. 2004. A Theory of Crimes Against Humanity. Yale Journal of International Law, 29: Pages 109-116.

Additional Reading Material:
Further suggested reading:

Blackstone, William. 1970. “Human Rights and Human Dignity.” in Human Dignity: This Century and the Next, edited by R. Gotesky and E. Laszlo. New York: Gordon and Breach.

Chaskalson, Arthur. 2002. “Human Dignity as a Constitutional Value.” in The Concept of Human Dignity in Human Rights Discourse, edited by D. Kretzmer and E. Klein. Hague: Kluwer Law International.

Donnelly, Jack. 2009. “Human Dignity and Human Rights.” Protecting Dignity: An Agenda for Human Rights, The Swiss Initiative to Commemorate the 60th Anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

Fletcher, G.P. 1984. “Human Dignity as a Constitutional Value.” University of Western Ontario Law Review 22.

Frowein, Jochen. 2002. “Human Dignity in International Law.” in The Concept of Human Dignity in Human Rights Discourse, edited by D. Kretzmer and E. Klein. Hague: Kluwer Law International.

Gewirth, Alan. 1992. “Human Dignity as the Basis of Rights.” in The Constitution of Rights: Human Dignity and American Values, edited by M. J. Meyer and W. A. Parent. Ithaca: Cornell University Press.

Henkin, Louis. 1992. “Human Dignity and Constitutional Rights.” in The Constitution of Rights: Human Dignity and American Values, edited by M. J. Meyer and W. A. Parent. Ithaca: Cornell University Press.

Henkin, Louis. 1999. “Human Rights: Religious or Enlightened?” in Religion and Human Rights, edited by C. Gustafson and P. H. Juviler. Armonk, N.Y.: M. E. Sharpe.

Herman, Gilbert. 1989. “Moral Relativism as a Foundation for Natural Rights.” in The Philosophy of Human Rights, edited by M. Winston. Belmont: Wadsworth Publishing Company.

Iglesias, Teresa. 2001. “Bedrock Truths and the Dignity of the Individual.” Logos.

Malpas, Jeff and Norelle Lickiss, (eds.). 2007. Perspectives on Human Dignity: A Conversation. Springer.

Meyer, Michael J. 1989. “Dignity, Rights, and Self-Control.” Ethics 99.

Meyer, Michael J. 2002. “Dignity as a Modern Virtue.” in The Concept of Human Dignity in Human Rights Discourse, edited by D. Kretzmer and E. Klein. Hague: Kluwer Law International.

Munster, Ralf. 1970. “A Critique of Blackstone's Human Rights and Human Dignity.” In Human Dignity: This Century and the Next, edited by R. Gotesky and E. Laszlo. New York: Gordon and Breach.

Novak, Michael. 1999. “Human Dignity, Human Rights.” First Things 97, November.

Parent, William A. 1992. “Constitutional Values and Human Dignity.” In The Constitution of Rights: Human Dignity and American Values, edited by M. J. Meyer and W. A. Parent. Ithaca: Cornell University Press.

Rotenstreich, Nathan. 1983. Man and His Dignity. Jerusalem: Magnes Press.

Strack, Christian. 2002. “The Religious and Philosophical Background of Human Dignity and Its Place in Modern Constitutions.” In The Concept of Human Dignity in Human Rights Discourse, edited by D. Kretzmer and E. Klein. Hague: Kluwer Law International.

Taylor, Charles. 1992. “The Politics of Recognition.” In Multiculturalism and “the Politics of Recognition”: An Essay, edited by A. Gutmann. Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press.

Ullrich, Dierk. 2003. “Concurring Visions: Human Dignity in the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms and the Basic Law of the Federal Republic of Germany.” Global Jurist Frontiers 3(1).

Weisstub, David. 2002. “Honor, Dignity and the Framing of Multiculturalist Values.” In The Concept of Human Dignity in Human Rights Discourse, edited by D. Kretzmer and E. Klein. Hague: Kluwer Law International.

Grading Scheme :

Additional information:
Attendance is obligatory with an emphasis on active and useful participation. The lecturer may give bonus points for answering guiding questions along the course.