Heart and smart
The Dignity Principles are based on both ethics and enlightened self-interest. So they are both heart and smart.
The Ethical Imperative
The main reason for defending dignity is that it is a value in itself. People need dignity to lead a human life.
Englightened Self-Interest
Dignity price: History shows that people are ready to pay a price for dignity when they are given the reason.
Dignity opportunities: Dignity does not only cost, dignity can also pay off.
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The Dignity Principles are based on both ethics and enlightened self-interest. So they are both heart and smart.
The Ethical Imperative
Dignity is about heart.
The main reason for defending dignity is that it is a value in itself. People need dignity to lead a human life.
The ethics underlying the idea of dignity is that in order for this end in itself to become realized people must have a right to have equal opportunities to realize their potential in life, and to be protected against the random misfortunes of life. This includes equal access to education, health care, etc.
The ethics of this philosophy is that, in principle, everyone could have been born in any position in society and that any misfortune that someone has to suffer could have hit anyone. Ethically, dignity is linked to the fragility of life and the ability to identify with, and respect, the fates of other people. It is based on the ability to imagine that things could just as well be the other way round: I could be in your position and you could be in mine.
A dignifying society dignifies everyone's life regardless of the cards that fate has dealt you. In a dignifying world, one's fate does not depend on one's "reproductive luck," that is, on the stars under which you happened to be born, the economic and social status of one's parents.
A dignifying world provides everyone with equal opportunities in life, thus leveling out haphazard circumstances.
Therefore, the thinking behind dignity includes also the ability to identify with the lives of others, the ability to "Imagine that we were 'us' just like now, except that 'I' would be 'you' and 'you' would be 'me'." Action has dignity only if I could feel dignified if I were treated in the way I'm treating the other person.
Thus the principle of dignity could also be formulated: Dignify others as you would like them to dignify yourself.
The Enlightened Self-Interest Argument
Dignity is also smart.
Dignity price: History shows that people are ready to pay a price for dignity when they are given the reason. The British were ready to pay 1.8% of GDP for boycotting slavery in America and no one thought that this price was too high to pay for dignity. In the Marshall Plan, the United States paid 1% of GDP per year for aiding Europe to get on its own feet and the Americans were willing to pay this dignity price.
Dignity opportunities: But dignity does not only cost, dignity can also pay off. Aid can be thought of as start-up money, like in the Marshall Plan, where the giver ultimately gets at least as much as the receiver. Inclusion creates new, emerging markets and thus a return on investment. The Japanese leap from a relatively undeveloped economy to one of the world’s leading economies is a great example of how the growth of an economy benefits others at least as much as itself. Currently, only a fraction of humankind is involved in innovation and entrepreneurialism. Imagine a world where 6 billion would be innovating instead of a few. Also, dignity can be seen as wise brand management, especially in a time when the brands USA, EU, and the West have a negative tone in many parts of the world. It makes pure marketing sense to invest in dignity.