Dignity - a consciousness science perspective

Abstract

Dignity can be regarded as an implicit duty of esteem and appreciation imprinted in humans’ consciousness. It is a quality of consciousness that is closely connected to constructs like conscience, compassion, self-esteem, tolerance, or self-certitude. To all of those subjective aspects objective complements do exist. For example, honor and respect are externalized complements of subjective dignity. As we relate the sentience of dignity to our own worth, we can also externalize this feeling and attribute dignity to other people, animals, plants, or even inanimate things. The various intangible aspects are a common reason for such attributions which are protected by dignity. A collection of questionnaire items from the psychosomatic context could demonstrate the salutogenetic effect of the sentience of dignity. Resilience and competences of life were positively correlated with dignity while psychosomatic symptoms showed negative correlations with dignity. Finally, I propose a number of activities, practices and therapeutic methods for developing and enhancing the sentience of dignity. Therefore, dignity is a valuable property for a culture of consciousness.