The concept of “human dignity” in the theory of human rights and the teachings of the Church

Abstract

Human dignity is the basic concept of the theory of human rights. In order to reveal the concept of human dignity, the article briefly outlines the history of the origin and content of the theory of human rights, and compares it with the teaching of the Church on freedom, dignity and human rights. As a result of the comparison, the weakness of the laic theory of human rights was revealed, which lies in the fact that, while protecting the freedom of choice, less and less takes into account the moral dimension of life and freedom from sin. Today, based on human dignity, it is argued that a person himself has the right to choose and determine the criteria for a “worthy” life for himself without any moral evaluation. The Church, however, says that the recognition of the dignity of a person means the affirmation of his moral responsibility, since in the Eastern Christian tradition the concept of “dignity” has primarily a moral meaning.