Mindfulness is the conscious and compassionate observation of the moment, without judgment or evaluation. Through regular practice of mindfulness, we can become aware of our own thoughts, emotions, and reactions, and learn how to accept and transform them in a positive way.
Therefore, dignity is the ability to maintain internal discipline and use our awareness to free ourselves from dependencies and automatisms that limit us. It is the path towards true understanding of oneself and one’s values, and towards living in harmony with them.
The word dignity comes from the Latin word “dignitas.” It is associated with personal worth, merit, virtue, readiness, position, and honor. It is also connected with the idea of magnificent beauty and sublimity.
False dignity
When we talk about people who hold high positions in the political power system, they are often referred to as “dignitaries,” so dignity is understood as a status in the social hierarchy that everyone recognizes. The idea of dignity gets mixed with the need to be someone and something in front of others, and thus in front of ourselves. Every human being has their own vanity and desire for recognition, the need to tell themselves that they are someone, not nothing.
Already in the Roman era, and even afterwards, the pursuit of dignitas or dignity was more about acquiring what we consider to deserve as a person. True dignity is found outside of material things, power, and recognition. Instead, we should seek true dignity within ourselves, in moral values and inner strength. In this way, dignity becomes independent of external circumstances and the recognition of others. Plato warns that when dignity is based on social recognition, it can lead to distorted authority and a pursuit of privileges. Such an understanding of dignity often leads to crime and immorality, as the individual acts out of wounded pride, jealousy, selfishness, and greed.
The pursuit of social dignity through recognition and power leads us into a race for external indicators of success, luxury, and fashion. This kind of dignity is merely illusory, as it is dictated by trends and biases, instead of being based on authentic values. We see that today’s society often favors form over substance, where it is more important how something looks and sounds, rather than what it truly means. True dignity disappears in such a world of spectacle and superficiality.
To restore true values and dignity in our world, we must turn to inner growth and moral values. We need to be authentic and trust in the strength within us, instead of seeking external recognition and material wealth. Only then can we find true dignity that is independent of circumstances and the recognition of others. Dignity should arise from within us and be based on love, honesty, and respect for all.
We went further because, thanks to the virtual world, we entered the era of simulation. Reality is almost irrelevant, what matters is everything else, everything related to the life we could live if we didn’t live this one – which is mundane and predictable. There is an incredible number of virtual paradises on the Internet, with their flawless villas and perfect loves, where you can do everything you dream of, where you can do everything without real living and without effort. Real life no longer exists, and as a result, there is no responsibility or commitment. Everyone builds their virtual identity and their false dignity.
Interestingly, the civilization that has fought for decades for human dignity, respect for cultures, and responsibility towards nature, has ultimately lost its own dignity and is incapable of carrying out individual and collective reforms.
The search for dignity continues despite everything. It is inherent in human beings, and since the beginning of the 21st century, new trends have emerged in this quest that reject the misconceptions of the past century. Through social, humanitarian, and cultural volunteering, thousands of young people have started to practice and develop their own dignity, thereby enabling a new sense of dignity for the people they help
The Dignity of Man
In the fifteenth century, inspired by classical authors, as well as Kabbalah, the Bible, and hermetism, the Italian philosopher Pico della Mirandola writes his famous speech On the Dignity of Man or De hominis dignitate. He reminds us that human beings, unlike other earthly creatures, must know how to choose between the animal and the angel in order to fulfill their natural state. It is precisely the exercise of inner freedom that guarantees dignity to humans. Since they carry within themselves all other natures, human nature obliges consciousness to make choices that no circumstances or inheritance can determine in advance.
If you see a man crawling on his belly, never view him solely as a body, but as a human being, a being with their own mind and soul. If you notice someone with a hazy gaze full of illusions from their fantasies, someone who is enslaved by their senses, what you see is not a human but an animal. However, if you observe a philosopher who wisely discerns things for the right reasons, respect them, for they are connected to the heavens, to the divine, not just to the earthly. If you notice someone withdrawing into contemplation and not entirely surrendering to the body but focusing on spiritual aspects, they are neither earthly nor heavenly beings but divinity manifested in human form.
But where does all of this lead us? We should understand what is rightfully ours because our nature allows us to become what we desire, without being accused of neglecting our high position and responsibility and reducing ourselves to the level of animals or senseless individuals. Let our sacred goal surpass mediocrity and guide us toward heights. Let us strive for those peaks and exert all our efforts to reach them. Kant speaks very precisely about the principle of human dignity: “Act in such a way that you treat humanity, whether in your own person or in the person of any other, never merely as a means to an end, but always at the same time as an end.” This signifies that you always perceive dignity, both in yourself and in others, as an end in itself and never as a means. This principle of the categorical imperative actually confirms that every human being (or as Kant says, every rational being) possesses a certain value that is not relative but intrinsic and essential. This value, which cannot be measured, is dignit
What is connected to human needs has market value; what provides pleasure by stimulating our senses has emotional value, and what can give something meaning in and of itself, with the help of intrinsic value, simply has dignity and is priceless. A human being has no price and is not equivalent to any other human being. Because what has a price can be replaced by anything equivalent; while what is above any price and therefore does not allow for any equivalence, has dignity. Morality and humanity are the only things that have no price.
These Kantian concepts once again emphasize our autonomy, our essential nature untouched by our interactions with others, and self-awareness. They pertain to the essence of being human. Free will pertains to the capacity that each individual possesses—the capacity to independently determine ourselves, make choices, and adhere to our own principles.
Moral life and the practice of dignity
Kant explains that morality should not be confused with moralizing. It is not about lecturing others or accusing others in the name of some doctrine. It is about internal behavior that drives us to transcend our own interests in order to act in the service of universal and common good or interests. Kant says: Act in such a way that your principle of action can be established as a universal law. Because what is good for you can be good for the entire human race.
In order to develop a moral life, we need moral strength, or an effort to overcome obstacles that prevent us from acting in accordance with what we think.
Ethics and morality are theories and practices of philosophy in a classical way that elevates the human being towards its dignity.
The practical aspect of philosophy is to enable the expression of inner values that we all possess. This brings about self-confidence and trust in oneself and others, as well as an inexhaustible ability to solve life’s difficulties.
Conditions for Dignity
As we have seen, the concept of dignity is connected to a series of philosophical principles or ideas: wisdom that allows us to overcome ignorance, freedom of spirit that leads us out of submissiveness, moral strength that liberates us from mechanization and inertia, and autonomy that enables us to be less dependent on situations and circumstances.
These principles are closely interconnected, they encourage each other and allow for the creation of a true philosophical concept for the improvement of human beings and society.
The search for dignity and its practice turns a human being into an idealist who has the need to act in a way that can change and improve the world and oneself.
Michel Lacroix reminds us that the soul takes on the color of the thoughts that occupy it (…); if our thoughts are directed towards the ideal, the soul will be It elevates (…); on the other hand, if the soul is devoid of ideals, it impoverishes itself.7
It has been shown that ideologies, parties, and regimes that explicitly or implicitly violate the theorem of dignity are harmful to themselves and to others.
Today, more than ever, it is precisely the criterion of dignity that enables us to decide on the validity of the ideals that can be accepted. Any proposal that does not promote internal and external human dignity already contains the seed of anti-humanity.
It can be said that the demand for human dignity is the fundamental key that will allow us to accept or reject the ideals or ways of life established or proposed in the 21st century. Dignity enables us to overcome the fear of commitment and the fear of ideals.