Abstract
Human dignity: An exploration of Biestek’s view
Social workers face the question of how to relate to other human beings, more specifically how to relate to client groups. Human dignity as a fundamental value of social work is widely used as a guiding principle in this regard. What is meant by the concept human dignity is not, however, always clear. It is argued that different, even opposing presuppositions, underpin and form the meaning and application of this concept and that as a practice principle human dignity is used in an intuitive way. Historically the term human dignity has had different meanings. In antiquity human dignity was linked with man’s rational capacities. The Christian perspective fuses human dignity with being created in the image of God. From a human-rights perspective human dignity is seen as a basic human right. In the post-modern context values are seen as relative and the question is what the implications for human dignity are if we accept it as a relative value in social work. The aim of this article is to show that human dignity is given meaning within a hierarchical ontology in social work. In this hierarchical ontology as argued by Biestek, man is viewed in a dualistic way where rationality dominates. It also places the individual central in the view of society.
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