Panel Topic: Internal and External Perspectives
Human Dignity from the Inside
Authors: Paul Kerry, Farrah Raza, Judith Wolfe, Asher Maoz
This is the 75th anniversary of the proclamation in Paris of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. The UDHR recognises the inherent dignity of and the equal and inalienable rights of all members of the human family as the foundation of freedom, justice and peace in the world, Article 18 of The Universal Declaration of Human Rights declares that everyone has the right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion. The Declaration has become the standard instrument of human rights throughout much of the world. It leads with the word “dignity”-but what is it and how is it understood and applied? What does it mean that dignity is “inherent” and in what ways to secular and religious views on this differ or reinforce each other? This panel is an exploration of what human dignity means “from the inside” in the three Abrahamic faiths, Judaism, Islam, and Christianity. Chair: Paul Kerry (University of Oxford)Speakers:Farrah Raza (Max Planck Institute for Social Anthropology / University of Oxford) Judith Wolfe (University of St Andrews) Asher Maoz (Peres Academic Center Law School)