"La dignità umana tra relazione e responsabilità"

Abstract: In the field of law, human dignity is not a new subject for study and enquiry, for it lies at the heart of every culture, dealing as it does with what it means to be human. There are new challenges today, however, in science and in teaching, regarding the understanding of the “identity” and “dignity” of human beings. Some cultural trends understand this dignity sometimes as a principle that coincides with the freedom of self determination, and sometimes as a equivalence between dignity and rights. This article attempts to locate dignity in human identity itself, which contains both “universality” and “uniqueness”. Individuality, marked by openness to relationship as a constituent feature of the human person, makes it possible to “inscribe” dignity in the relationships where the person expects to find acceptance and fulfilment. Dignity, both of individuals and of peoples, becomes a “reminder” of responsibility.