In this third video, I’m going to again draw from Dignitas Infinita, to spell out what it calls a “fundamental clarification,” about human dignity.
Specifically, the Church distinguishes between four kinds of dignity: ontological dignity, moral dignity, social dignity, and existential dignity.
That’s a lot of big words. But I’m gonna unpack each of those kinds of dignity.
I think these distinction are important when the Church discusses things like the universal destination of good, the dignity of criminals, and the preferential option for the poor: all of which I will cover in future videos.
“The most important among these is the ontological dignity that belongs to the person as such simply because he or she exists and is willed, created, and loved by God. Ontological dignity is indelible and remains valid beyond any circumstances in which the person may find themselves” (Dignitas Infinita 7).
