Summary Of Human Dignity By Francis Fukuyama
Rahimi 1
Liora Rahimi
Ms. Maher
English 1102
8 April 2012 Fukuyama Quest to Dignity
Humanity can be viewed and practiced in infinite ways, in fact most individuals see this concept differently as they have their own perception of what humanity is comprised of. Francis Fukuyama the author of “Human Dignity,” argues that human dignity is attained through a concept which he coined as Factor X. This term simply defines how a human being can attain dignity once he or she is stripped of their contingent and accidental characteristics. These characteristics include skin color, looks, social class and wealth, gender, sexual preference, cultural background as well as talents that we posses. The author tries to implement how we as human beings may learn to see each other without the superficial and materialistic characteristics we accumulate throughout our lifetime by seeing one another …show more content…
He strongly believes that it is human instinct for people to believe that they are above average or maybe even "better" than most people with whom one associates him or herself with. Contrary to Gilbert, Fukuyama believes that people all are very different from one another in countless different ways. Fukuyama states "Today, for believers in liberal equality, factor X etches a bright red line around the whole of the human race and requires equality of respect for all of those on the inside, but attributes a lower level of dignity to those outside the boundary" (143). Francis Fukuyama states that he believes differences between human beings go beyond just the factor of race. He believes these differences exist both biologically as well as characteristically, and the reason why he emphasizes the dangers of human gene manipulation in his article, is because of the possible threat of the loss of our uniqueness as individuals through the use of cloning and gene
Liora Rahimi
Ms. Maher
English 1102
8 April 2012 Fukuyama Quest to Dignity
Humanity can be viewed and practiced in infinite ways, in fact most individuals see this concept differently as they have their own perception of what humanity is comprised of. Francis Fukuyama the author of “Human Dignity,” argues that human dignity is attained through a concept which he coined as Factor X. This term simply defines how a human being can attain dignity once he or she is stripped of their contingent and accidental characteristics. These characteristics include skin color, looks, social class and wealth, gender, sexual preference, cultural background as well as talents that we posses. The author tries to implement how we as human beings may learn to see each other without the superficial and materialistic characteristics we accumulate throughout our lifetime by seeing one another …show more content…
He strongly believes that it is human instinct for people to believe that they are above average or maybe even "better" than most people with whom one associates him or herself with. Contrary to Gilbert, Fukuyama believes that people all are very different from one another in countless different ways. Fukuyama states "Today, for believers in liberal equality, factor X etches a bright red line around the whole of the human race and requires equality of respect for all of those on the inside, but attributes a lower level of dignity to those outside the boundary" (143). Francis Fukuyama states that he believes differences between human beings go beyond just the factor of race. He believes these differences exist both biologically as well as characteristically, and the reason why he emphasizes the dangers of human gene manipulation in his article, is because of the possible threat of the loss of our uniqueness as individuals through the use of cloning and gene