Empathy, Autonomy and Dignity

“… being made to suffer, bodily and materially, is not conceptually the same wrong as being treated as if one is not a human being. Lastly, I believe that though a human being can never forfeit his or her dignity and thus become legitimately open to any kind of inhuman treatment, one assaults one’s own dignity when one is a party to serious injustice, or systemic oppression, or to evil as a policy; one is acting as if one were more than human, or more human than those whose victimization one causes or calmly accepts as nothing untoward.” (Kateb 13)

If we go by a definition of dignity that says it is an essential element to being human and that it is something that all human beings are born with, then it is impossible to forfeit that dignity willingly. Forfeiting dignity would be forfeiting your humanity, and that is impossible. There are other essential elements that make humans different from other species. The capacity to empathize with one another is another of these elements. Empathy implies that humans have the moral capacity to recognize each others’ needs. I believe then, that taking away empathy takes away dignity, and that is how dignity is forfeited. A person who refuses to empathize with another has sacrificed an essential part of being human in themselves and is also denying the other person that capacity.

The idea of empathy also brings up another element of dignity and humanity, that is, autonomy. A person’s individuality and capacity to make decisions is another part of what gives them dignity. When their autonomy is infringed upon, so is their dignity. To refer back to Kateb and his idea that one assaults one’s own dignity when they play a part in injustice, it is an injustice to take away a person’s autonomy. To do so is to forfeit the capacity to empathize, which infringes upon autonomy and also upon dignity.  

This is what I think so far, in response to this passage in Kateb’s article. I know I need to check on the philosophical implications I am making, but this is how I have thought it through. Obviously this response will change and clarify itself as we discuss more.