Human Dignity

I recently ran across a list of "Ten Principles of Social Work" - the governing code of the social work profession.  The first one is "Human Dignity":

"Dignity of the human person is the ethical foundation of a moral society.  The measure of every institution is whether it threatens or enhances the life and dignity of the human person." [emphasis added]

I got to thinking - what if we all took responsibility for ensuring that our organizations enhanced the life and dignity of every human person? 

Obviously we'd need to start with some clear operational definitions for the terms "threatens" and "enhances."  And we'd also need to clarify what is meant by "the human person" - i.e., do we agree to assume that all humans have a spirit and that the spirit should be cared for also? etc. 

But that would be a really interesting discussion, wouldn't it?

Comments

[Heather Mundell]

I think that the many people who leave corporate America to hang up their own shingle or work in another sector are reacting to a sense that their company (or all of corporate America) has little regard for enhancing the life and dignity of every human person. And they're tired of it.

Very interesting ideas, defining "threaten" and "enhance" and "human person"! My sense is that the companies that get listed on the "Best Places to Work" lists have figured out how to enhance their employees' lives as well as make a profit.

[Sharon Wilson]

Great post. I think this is why people are leaving the big faceless corporations and taking jobs at smaller organizations or their own business. It's tough to feel good about your work if you think it's not really helping your fellow man.