The Cosmopolitan Constitution by Alexander Somek

Author:Alexander Somek
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2015-02-19T16:00:00+00:00

The Threat of Disruption

We have made some progress with regard to the obvious obstacle. Moral realism remains abstract. It perceives human dignity as grounded in some metaphysical attribute whose majesty commands respect. This view ignores that human dignity is about appearing human, that is, as constituting oneself, vis-à-vis others, in one’s choices. This activity presupposes freedom. But it goes beyond it and is essentially a social phenomenon.98

This ability to pull ourselves together is most threatened by what roots us in nature. Schiller believed the dignity of people to be manifest in how they control involuntary reactions.99 By contrast, Nietzsche mocked the celebration of the “dignity of labor” by pointing out that dignity begins with independence from toil. It can only be of relevance in a social stratum where the concern with the reproduction of life is not even remotely significant.100 Schiller and Nietzsche converge, however, on perceiving dignity where human composure is not disturbed by what grounds it in nature. Once the appearance that people create of themselves is overtaken by their bodily functions dignity suffers.101 Incontinence is embarrassing. The same is true when the intellect fades from organic life. Being human in a dignified manner means being able to contain unruly drives, instincts, or reactions that pull us back to the level of “selfless” existence.

Being overtaken by necessity—as is epitomized by any form of compulsion—forces us to confront our dependence on a basis that is stronger than our ability to govern and to conduct ourselves. It reminds us that our mindedness is a brittle achievement that we enjoy at the pleasure of something both intractable and more fundamental.102 Nature is what makes us possible and also threatens to disrupt us.103 Simple cases confirm this point. Exposure to noise can be so irritating that the mind loses focus. A dripping water tap can besiege and conquer the ability to think. (p.150)

Of obvious relevance to law and justice are diminutions or losses of dignity that are induced by others. In most salient cases this happens if our rootedness in nature is turned against our ability to have us—our character or our integrity—as an end in view. The last bastion of our freedom is conquered when we cannot remain silent even though we would really like to. Torture takes this away from us.104 It creates a situation where we are helplessly exposed to our disruption. Pain and fear expose us to our persistent vulnerability to physical reactions. Dignity is lost, then, in the gaze of the perpetrators who not only inflict suffering, but also perceive and enjoy the helplessness of their victims. Screaming and shivering persons are overtaken by their emotional reactions. They involuntarily do what the perpetrator wants them to do. They are turned into responses triggered by harsh stimuli. Whoever is in the position to direct what is nature within us against our ability to pursue us as ends, uses causation in order to suspend our subjectivity. The most egregious offences go to the level at which the stripping of subjectivity is pursued systematically.

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