Human dignity, vulnerability and Law. Studies on the dignity of human life

On September 24th 2020 a seminar was organized by RCC Study Group Studies on Life and Human Dignity at Harvard Law School (Cambridge, Massachusetts). The seminar New Challenges for Law: Human Dignity, Vulnerability and Social Justice in the Time of the Pandemic was to gather well-renowned professors from different fields of science from prestigious European and American universities. But the Covid-19 pandemic forced the organizers to suspend the seminar at the last moment. The aim of the encounter was to analyze and study the concept of human dignity in life and at the end of life, and some of its manifestations and potential threats in today´s world.

In the last decades, a spectacular development in the diverse fields of science, economy, trade and communications has taken place in society. These advances in human progress, as laudable as they may be, often do not effectively correspond to parallel recognition of every man and woman?s human dignity. In fact, in many cases, this progress results in a series of contradictions and possible dangers and challenges.

This book brings together a selection of papers that were to be presented at that seminar, regarding the big issue of human dignity and law.

ÍNDICE

PROLOGUE        

INTRODUCTION: THE VALUE OF HUMAN DIGNITY        

IN THE NAME OF DIGNITY OR THE DIGNITY OF A NAME: THE JEWS / MARÍA-JESÚS TORQUEMADA

ON HUMAN DIGNITY? / JAVIER ARANGUREN

ANCIENT ORIGINS OF DIGNITY AT WORK: FREEDMEN’S SOCIAL PROTECTIONS AND DIGITAL PLATFORM WORKERS / GRZEGORZ BLICHARZ

LAZINESS AS AN ANTHROPOLOGICAL CHALLENGE FOR LAW IN THE TIME OF THE PANDEMIC / FRANCISZEK LONGCHAMPS DE BÉRIER

MORAL ABSOLUTES IN BUSINESS PRACTICE? A HUMAN RIGHTS-BASED ARGUMENT / HUGO S. RAMÍREZ-GARCÍA

THE RIGHT OF ACCESS TO PUBLIC INFORMATION AND ITS LINK WITH FUNDAMENTAL RIGHTS / MANUEL ESTEPA MONTERO

THE DIGNITY OF THE HUMAN PERSON AND RESPECT FOR THE RIGHT TO PERSONAL DATA PROTECTION / JAVIER PUYOL MONTERO

HOW “NEW WORLD ORDER’ SCENARIOS” FACE FREEDOM OF CONSCIENCE AND HUMAN DIGNITY IN TIME OF PANDEMIC AND EMERGENCY LAWS / LIVIU OLTEANU

THE PRINCIPLE OF HUMAN VULNERABILITY: HOW IS IT GROUNDED? / MARIA DO CÉU PATRÃO NEVES

VULNERABILITY, INTERDEPENDENCE AND COMPASSION: A CHALLENGE FOR THE LAW / VICENTE BELLVER CAPELLA

THE ETHICS OF CARE IN A POST-PANDEMIC WORLD / FRANCESC TORRALBA

THE PERMANENCE OF THE DUTY OF CARE UNDER THE REFORM OF THE CIVIL CODE FOR THE ADAPTATION OF THE UN CONVENTION ON THE RIGHTS OF PERSONS WITH DISABILITIES IN SPAIN: A CRITIQUE OF THE CENTRALITY OF THE PRINCIPLE OF AUTONOMY IN THE SITUATIONS OF OLDER PEOPLE WITHOUT SOCIAL SUPPORT / JOAQUÍN MARÍA RIVERA ÁLVAREZ

THE DIGNITY OF HUMAN LIFE AT THE TIME OF DEATH: SOME ELEMENTS FOR REFLECTION ON EUTHANASIA AT THE BEGINNING OF THE 21ST CENTURY / JOSÉ MARÍA PUYOL MONTERO

ANNEX ACTIVITIES ORGANIZED OR SPONSORED BY RCC STUDY GROUP «STUDIES ON LIFE AND HUMAN DIGNITY»