He has a Diploma in Teacher Education (D.T.E.); three Bachelors in Philosophy (B.Ph.), Sociology (B.A.) Theology (B.Th.); and a Masters in Philosophy and Religion (M.A.) from India. He did an Intensive Bioethics Course (IBC) at the Kennedy Institute of Ethics, Washington DC. He received his Doctorate in Moral Theology and Bioethics (Dr. theol.) with summa cum laude from the Jesuit University of Sankt Georgen Frankfurt, Germany. After years of teaching and research, he obtained his Habilitation (Dr. habil.) with awards of Venia Legendi and Professorship for Moral Theology and Bioethics for his magnum opus on "Human Dignity in World Religions: Toward a Global Bioethics and Biolaw" from the University of Freiburg, Germany. He has published many research articles. He is a recipient of many scholarships and awards.
From a philosophical point of view, three layers of meaning of the concept of human dignity can be distinguished; an intrinsic dignity, an attributed dignity and another form, which could be called inflorescent dignity. The concept of human dignity can fulfil its intended function in ethical debates; only, if the gap between these three layers of meaning is strictly observed: Since the intrinsic basic stratum of human dignity precedes the other two levels of meaning, no one has to pay for his or her own dignity through his or her own behaviour that needs justification. S/he owes this neither to social recognition by others nor to their unfolding through one's own moral action. On the contrary, the social recognition of an individual demanded by others signifies the only appropriate response to an already given rightful claim through the humanity of each human individual. If human dignity were to be constituted only through the process of social interaction, it could also be revoked from individuals by others according to the prevailing moral, social and legal standards in a society. As much as people depend on social recognition for actuation and realization of their dignity, as little do they owe their dignity to these reciprocal social Even if the understanding of human dignity broke loose from its religious relationships of recognition. roots later in a secular context, the sacred texts of the great world religions remain an important root of its origin. This study examines the contribution of the individual world religions to the formation of the idea of human dignity in a comparative perspective. First, the ideas of creation and redemption of three monotheistic variants of religion, i.e., Judaism, Christianity (in her Catholic and Protestant forms) and Islam are presented. This is followed by the Eastern religious systems of Hinduism, Jainism and Buddhism classic form and in the form of Mahayana Buddhism. Finally, the rich in detail study is devoted to the ideas of Confucianism and the Bahai religion regarding human dignity. After this passage through the complex paths of the history of religion, in which the author serves to be a reliable travel companion to the reader, the legal texts of the international community of peoples and states are examined, in which the commitment to human dignity has been incorporated. Since the Universal Declaration of Human Rights of 1948, the commitment to the invulnerability of human dignity has played an important role in many national constitutions as the basis of individual human rights. However, from a legal perspective, there are two different opposing conceptions of human dignity, which can be rather described as more liberal- freedom-oriented or more conservative-protection-oriented views. In the first case, the reference to human dignity serves as a justification for the demand for greater individual freedom of choice. In the second case, it imposes restrictions on freedom where the dignity of the third parties is affected. In most cases, the tension between the concepts of "dignity as empowerment" and "dignity as protection" is not resolved at the theoretical level, but only in the practical application to concrete situations.
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