Antigone, today

Dignity and human rights in contemporary spaces

Authors

Downloads

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.24306/TrAESOP.2020.01.001

Abstract

The tragedy of Antigone revolves around the theme of conflict. Both the version written by Sophocles and the one by Jean Anouilh are mainly focused on conflicts. The conflict between Antigone and Creon is real and symbolic at the same time. It is the conflict between a woman’s body and the law, between women’s and men’s conditions, between two anthropologies. It is also a conflict between two opposite ethical perspectives, and two opposite political visions. It is the conflict between the rule of individuals and the rule of laws, between non-violence and violence, social responsibility and individual egoism, and self-identification and identity. The conflict between Antigone and Creon is the heterogeneous sum of many conflicts. If we try to fit all conflicts within a broader framework, we could say that Antigone’s choice of disobedience raises the high-level conflict between human dignity and the law. This conflict takes place within the positive law and cannot exist outside it. Human dignity cannot elude the law, since it is rooted within the legal system. It does not, however, originate from it, but its finalisation is actually in the law; where gaps and fallacies are revealed. Its strength lies in the lack of a definition. Human dignity helps the law to regenerate and not become locked in a formal stronghold.

How to Cite

Lo Piccolo, F. . (2020). Antigone, today: Dignity and human rights in contemporary spaces. Transactions of the Association of European Schools of Planning, 4(1), 1–6. https://doi.org/10.24306/TrAESOP.2020.01.001

Published

01-06-2020

References

Auyero, Javier (2003) Contentious lives. Durham, NC: Duke University Press.

Bourgois, Philippe (2003) In search of respect. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Dworkin, Ronald (2006) Is democracy possible here? Principles for a new political debate. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.

Habermas, Jürgen (2010) The concept of human dignity and the realistic utopia of human rights. Metaphilosophy, 41 (4), pp.464-480.

Iglesias, Teresa (2001) Bedrock truths and the dignity of the individual. Logos: A Journal of Catholic Thought and Culture, 4 (1), pp.111-134.

Kateb, George (2011) Human Dignity. Cambridge, MA: The Belknap Press.

Kymlicka, Will (2009) The multicultural welfare state? In Hall, Peter A. and Michele Lamont (eds) Successful societies: How institutions and culture affect health. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, pp.226-255.

Lo Piccolo, Francesco (2010) The planning research agenda: Plural cities, equity and rights of citizenship. Town Planning Review, 81 (6), pp.i-vi.

McCrudden, Cristopher (2008) Human dignity and judicial interpretation of human rights. The European Journal of International Law, 19 (4), pp.655-724.

Misztal, Barbara A. (2012) The idea of dignity: Its modern significance. European Journal of Social Theory, 16 (1), pp.101-121.

Nussbaum, Martha (2008) Human dignity and political entitlement. Human Dignity and Bioethics: Essays Commissioned by the President’s Council on Bioethics. Available at: https://bioethicsarchive.georgetown.edu/pcbe/reports/human_ dignity/index.html [accessed 12 February 2020].

Raz, Joseph (2001) Value, respect and attachment. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Sensen, Oliver (2011) Human dignity in historical perspective: The contemporary and traditional paradigms. European Journal of Political Theory, 10 (1), pp.71-90.

Sulmasy, Daniel P. (2008) Dignity and bioethics. Human Dignity and Bioethics: Essays Commissioned by the President’s Council on Bioethics. Available at: https://bioethicsarchive.georgetown.edu/pcbe/reports/human_dignity/index.html [accessed 12 February 2020].

van der Graaf, Rieke and Johannes van Delden (2009) Clarifying appeals to dignity. Bioethics, 23 (3), pp.151-160.

Waldron, Jeremy (2007) Dignity and rank. Archive Européenne de Sociologie, XLVIII, pp.201-237.