Abstract

As an important concept in western humanity tradition，human dignity was first established in the Charter of United Nations as a political manifesto and value principles after the World War II.Later，with the development of human consciousness and social protest movement striving for basic human rights，the rising of bioethics in particular，human dignity is becoming a pioneering topics，which arouses great interests and heated discussion among the scholars from various disciplines such as law，ethics，politics and sociology，etc.

From the perspective of ethics，braving the challenge and perplexity of human dignity research in the pioneering disciplines of bioethics and legal ethics，this paper seeks to carry out a systematic research on what is human dignity，why human beings share dignity and how to protect and respect human dignity，in accordance with the framework of‘concept explanation，diachronic review，and practical application’.The present paper strives to clarify the ethics connotation and feature of human dignity，for the purpose of assisting people to face and understand the moral difficulties and ethic perplexities on‘human dignity’in social practices，especially those perplexities resulted from the application of high-tech in modern world，and to help people live a life with dignity.

In Chinese，the so-called human dignity simply means personal nobility and solemnity.Dignity in modern times，which has shaken the shadow of rank system，refers to personal potential，excellent performance，good characteristics，and lofty sentiment，which are recognized and acknowledged by the society.In English，human dignity is a term signifying the high-ranking and gracious aspects of human beings in relation with other things，which is reflected in human being's behavior，social status and position，natural order，morality，reputation and sense of dignity，etc.

From the perspective of the history of Chinese ethical thoughts，the development of the concept of‘human dignity’is divided into three historical periods according to the path and characteristics of the development of‘human dignity’in different historical periods：the pre Qin period，Qin and Han Dynasties to the Sui and Tang Dynasties and the Song，Yuan，Ming and Qing Dynasties.In each historical period，the author takes the concept of‘dignity’contained in the human thought of the thinker as the main line，and in the order of the times the thinker is located，to put aside the distinction between Confucianism，Mohism，Taoism，legalism and Buddhism，the thinkers of the inheritance and development of human thought to reflect and carefully sort out：During the pre-Qin period，the various schools of thought contend，species dignity，‘heaven’dignity，and human dignity，life dignity and dignity of the main body，personal dignity and Self-esteem and his honour，freedom dignity and social dignity are discussed in the human thought，has the enlightenment significance.Due to the western han dynasty Dong Zhongshu，‘ousted hundred，only Confucianism’，make the development of Qin and Han dynasties to sui and tang dynasties human thought is restricted，its rich degree is less than the pre-Qin period，but it is undeniable that the thinkers of this period in the species dignity，human dignity，equality and dignity，dignity of the main body，freedom dignity of the expositions than the pre-Qin period and a step further.The thinkers of the Song，Yuan，Ming and Qing Dynasties continued to deepen their thinking and argumentation on species dignity，human dignity，dignity of the main body，personal dignity，life dignity，social dignity，especially the neo-confucianism，thinkers criticized the feudal monarchy，trying to liberate people from the shackles of heaven，life，god and ghost，the individual consciousness of human beings began to awaken，and the dignity of man as the individual began to emerge.

In the long history of western ethics，most thinkers have always attempted to reflect，know and grasp the nature and inner value of human being through the analysis of relationship between human being and god，human being and nature and human being and society，and then the dignity and value of human being are explored in comparison with other things or objects.The arousal and highlight of the concept of‘human dignity’has witnessed two periods，i.e.the theoretical construction period dated from ancient Greek to the end of 18th century，and the practical criticism period dated from the beginning of 19th century up till now.In the theoretical construction period，the view of dignity in ancient Greek was relative dignity，while view of dignity in Middle Age with Christian tradition was absolute dignity，the view of dignity in Renaissance was subjective dignity；the view of dignity in Age of Enlightenment was natural dignity and Kantian dignity.Kantian dignity has fulfilled the historical transformation of human dignity from‘identity to contract.’In practical criticism period，there existed two traditions，one originated from natural law and another from Kantian dignity，which were complemented in the manifesto and civil law in some capitalist countries as an‘ideal or viewpoint.’However，the doubts of the non-positivism of dignity's foundation coming from the positivists，has led to the contempt of humanity and the persecution of innocent lives，and even to the horrific genocide during the World War II.Basing on this facts，the concept of‘human dignity’was introduced into the international manifesto，the international charter or the treaty of alliance，and national constitution after the World War II.Since 1960s，the concept of‘human dignity’is facing various challenges from the emerging bioethics.However，the present argument on‘human dignity’is still under the two traditions mentioned above.

In view of ethics foundation，the fact that human being could share dignity lies in the fundamental characteristic or intrinsic value of human being.The four types of theory，i.e.endowment-dignity theory，relativity-dignity theory，subjectivity-dignity theory，and right-dignity theory，all display their own limitations and demerits.In view of ethics characteristics，human dignity is endowed with generality and peculiarity.The generality of human dignity signifies the fundamental identity of‘human existence’.It is equal，objective and absolute，which is derived from the biological nature of human being.Meanwhile，the peculiarity of human dignity symbolizes‘who I am’.It is diverse，subjective，and relative，which resulted from the social nature of human being.In terms of ethics connotation，the concept of human dignity embraces human life and its dignity，self-esteem and respect for others，autonomy and self-determination；meanwhile human dignity also includes responsibility and obligation，equality and justice from the perspective social systems.

Based on the analysis above，to explore should be how to respect and protect human dignity in modern world，the first from the relationship between people and the state should be recognized that respect and protection of human dignity is the obligation of the state，the state should be the spirit of‘fairness’principle from the system construction，legislation，law enforcement and other aspects of implementation‘human dignity’concept，‘human dignity’as an important dimension of the constitutional system，the guiding principles of the legal system，the basic direction of economic system and the basic aim of the social security system；in the real social life，people maintain their dignity is the core values to be recognized and recognized by the society，vulnerable groups and marginalized groups more hope to get the recognition and reflection of the society.When people face a variety of people-related Dignity of the ethical dilemma or moral and legal problems.Procedural justice is the most basic requirement to get rid of the difficulties and solve the difficult problems.

Key Words： human dignity；the perspective of ethics；theory and practice