Sara Contini examines a crucial junction in the history of the idea of universal human dignity. She argues that a key role was played by Latin authors of the 4th century who mediated between the traditional Roman notion of dignitas and Greek Christian views on the human being made in the image of God.
This work has been awarded the prize for outstanding excellence in a doctoral dissertation for the Faculty of Arts at the University of Bristol in 2022/23.
Sara Contini assesses the meanings attributed to the term
dignitas (»dignity«) in the Latin translations of Origen of Alexandria, as well as in other Latin Christian texts of the 4th century which, to different degrees, show the reception of Origen's views on the creation of the human being according to the image of God. Authors like Rufinus, Jerome, or Hilary of Poitiers are the first Latin writers to employ the term
dignitas to denote the universal potential of humans as rational and free beings. The contribution offered by these authors to the history of the idea of human dignity was, based on Origen's notion of the universal reach of God's love, to problematise the elitism and individualism associated with Classical views on
dignitas, and thus to frame the traditional understanding of dignity as rank in a new egalitarian perspective.
This work has been awarded the prize for outstanding excellence in a doctoral dissertation for the Faculty of Arts at the University of Bristol in 2022/23.
Table of contents:
Part I: Linguistic Issues
Chapter 1: Comparison with Greek Terms1.1 Greek Terms That Rufinus and Jerome Translate as Dignus or Digne - 1.2 Greek Terms That Rufinus and Jerome Translate as Dignitas - 1.3 Conclusions
Chapter 2: Terms Associated with Dignity in Rufinus' Translations of Origen
2.1 Honour - 2.2 Power - 2.3 Glory - 2.4 Status - 2.5 Nobility - 2.6 Beauty - 2.7 Conclusions
Part II: Dignity in Origen
Chapter 3: Dignitas of Creatures in the Latin Translations of Origen
3.1 Dignity as Rank and Social Status - 3.2 Dignity in the Church - 3.3 Dignity of the Worthy Souls before Apocatastasis - 3.4 Dignity of the Heavenly Powers - 3.5 Conclusions
Chapter 4: The Dignity of God and the Communication between God and Humans
4.1 Understanding God through His Dignity - 4.2 Origen and Celsus: Discovering and Communicating God as Is Worthy of Him - 4.3 Overcoming Rank: The Dignity of God in the Homilies on Psalms - 4.4 Conclusions
Part III: A Turning Point in the Usage of Dignitas: Universal Human Dignity
Chapter 5: An Exceptional Passage in Origen through Rufinus' Latin Translation: »Dignity of the Image« in De Principiis 3.6.1
5.1 What Is the »Dignity of the Image«? Purpose, Themes, and Structure of Princ. 3.6.1 - 5.2 Human Dignity and Instability - 5.3 Conclusions
Chapter 6: A Possible Parallel in Cicero? The Dignity and Excellence of Human Nature in De Officiis 1.106
6.1 Dignitas across Cicero's Life - 6.2 De Officiis and Its Reception in the 4th Century - 6.3 The Structure of the First Book of De Officiis: Honestum - 6.4 The Context of Off. 1.106: Decorum - 6.5 Human Dignitas in Off. 1.106-107 and in the Latin Version of Princ. 3.6.1 - 6.6 Conclusions
Part IV: The Usage of the Term Dignitas and the Reception of Origen's Views on Humanity in the Cultural Environment of Rufinus and Jerome
Chapter 7: Universal Human Dignity in Latin Christian Texts from the 4th Century7.1 Dignity of Human Souls Established at Creation - 7.2 Dignity Available to All Those Who Become Christian - 7.3 Conclusions
Chapter 8: Human Dignity in the Latin Translations of the Cappadocians
8.1 Gregory of Nazianzus: »Dignity of the Image« - 8.2 Basil of Caesarea: Dignity as Superiority - 8.3 Gregory of Nyssa: Dignity and Royalty - 8.4 Conclusions
Chapter 9: Filastrius of Brescia: The Progress from Image to Likeness
9.1 Filastrius' Views on the Human Soul in Comparison with Origen - 9.2 Human Dignity in Filastrius - 9.3 The Difference between Image and Likeness in the 3rd and 4th Centuries - 9.4 Conclusions
Chapter 10: Human Dignity in Jerome
10.1 Dignity as Office - 10.2 Dignity in Jerome's Polemic against Origen's Views on the Creatures - 10.3 Dignity of the Human Soul - 10.4 Conclusions
