Practicing Success

Target Exam

CUET

Subject

Political Science

Chapter

Rights

Question:

Which of the following is incorrect about Kant's ideas on human dignity?

Options:

They became a rallying point for human rights struggles.

They support social hierarchies and discrimination.

They emphasize treating every person with dignity.

They are based on the principle of treating others morally.

Correct Answer:

They support social hierarchies and discrimination.

Explanation:

The correct answer is Option 2 - They support social hierarchies and discrimination.

Kant’s ideas on human dignity were used to oppose social hierarchies and support human rights, not to support discrimination.

Human beings’, unlike all other objects, possess dignity. They are, for this reason valuable in themselves. For the eighteenth century German philosopher, Immanuel Kant, this simple idea had a deep meaning. It meant that every person has dignity and ought to be so treated by virtue of being a human being. A person may be uneducated, poor or powerless. He may even be dishonest or immoral. Yet, he remains a human being and deserves to be given some minimum dignity. For Kant, to treat people with dignity was to treat them morally. This idea became a rallying point for those struggling against social hierarchies and for human rights. Kant’s views represent, what is called, the moral conception of rights. This position rests upon two arguments. First, we should be treating others as we would like to be treated ourselves. Second, we should make sure that we don’t treat the other person as means to our ends. We should not treat people as we treat a pen, a car, or a horse. That is, we should respect people not because they are useful to us but because they are, after all, human beings