This volume brings together a range of interdisciplinary perspectives on a topic of central importance, but which has otherwise tended to be approached from within just one or another disciplinary framework. Most of the essays contained here incorporate some degree of interdisciplinarity in their own approach, but the volume nevertheless divides into three main sections: Philosophical considerations; Humanities approaches; Legal, medical, and therapeutic contexts. The volume includes essays by philosophers, medical practitioners and researchers, historians, lawyers, literary, Classical, and Judaic scholars. The essays are united by a common concern with the question of the human character of suffering, and the demands that suffering, and the recognition of suffering, make upon us.

The idea of human dignity is central to any reflection on the nature of human worth, and has become a key concept in international and national law, in medical ethics, and in much philosophical and political theory. However, the idea is a complex one that also takes on many different forms. This collection explores the idea of human dignity as it arises within these many different domains, opening up the possibility of a multidisciplinary conversation that illuminates the concept itself, as well as the idea of the human to which it stands in an essential relation. The book is not only an intriguing and stimulating exploration of human dignity from a range of perspectives, but also provides an important resource for those who wish to take the exploration further.

This volume brings together a range of interdisciplinary perspectives on a topic of central importance, but which has otherwise tended to be approached from within just one or another disciplinary framework. Most of the essays contained here incorporate some degree of interdisciplinarity in their own approach, but the volume nevertheless divides into three main sections: Philosophical considerations; Humanities approaches; Legal, medical, and therapeutic contexts. The volume includes essays by philosophers, medical practitioners and researchers, historians, lawyers, literary, Classical, and Judaic scholars. The essays are united by a common concern with the question of the human character of suffering, and the demands that suffering, and the recognition of suffering, make upon us.

The idea of human dignity is central to any reflection on the nature of human worth. However, the idea is a complex one that also takes on many different forms. This unique collection explores the idea of human dignity as it arises within these many different domains, opening up the possibility of a multidisciplinary conversation that illuminates the concept itself. The book includes essays by leading Australian and International figures.