The Concept of Human Dignity according to Martha Nussbaum's capability approach theory

Abstract

The concept of human dignity has been and is still a matter of some legal and philosophical debates of great transcendence. The vagueness of the concept and the scope of its meaning occupies an important place in the field of the philosophy of law, in the case of a notion that deserves to be reviewed and clarified, since, if some thinkers and lawyers argue that it is a fundamental ethical criterion, others are skeptical and consider it a term "empty of content" and even "useless". This article aims to clarify what is the meaning that Marta Nussbaum gives to the concept of human dignity in the theory of the approach of capacities, which have been the philosophical sources to elaborate this concept, and if the meaning that Nussbaum gives to the concept of dignity sheds clarity and allows an application "erga omens", according to her cosmopolitan project.