Moral Cultures: The Concept of Dignity

On its history and limitations

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Social scientists often make a distinction between honor and dignity. Both terms refer to a kind of moral worth, a form of esteem or respectability. But they differ in important ways.

Honor is extrinsic and alienable. Honor is based on reputation, on how others view and treat you. Honor can be lost — quite easily, in many cases, leading to the famous touchiness displayed by men of honor.

Dignity in contrast is intrinsic and inalienable. It does not depend on other’s good opinion and cannot be taken away. As Whitney Houston sang in 1985 (covering a song from 1977) “No matter what they take from me, they can’t take away my dignity.”

The Evolution of Dignity

The idea that all people share some baseline moral worth, one that exists independently of any other kind of social stature, isn’t universal. And this conception of dignity did not emerge overnight.