On the Structural Ground of Human Dignity—A Methodological Turn from Attribute Seeking to Structural Analysis

The ground of human dignity constitutes a core problem in metaethics. Traditional conceptions of dignity—whether religious, rational, recognition-based, or capability-based, all depend on attribute presuppositions that dignity grounded in certain attributes of human beings, and each exhibits explanatory fractures in marginal cases. This paper proposes an entirely new theory of dignity grounded in a postulate and objective facts: Pre-structural Dignity. The argument proceeds from that “civilization ought to advance” and the advancement of civilization (generating increments rather than maintaining the status quo) depends on the continuous discovery and creation; that the individuals who will bring about such discovery and creation cannot be identified in advance at birth. Therefore the process of civilizational advancement necessarily ought to maintain a pool of possibility covering all who are born; that every newborn is structurally incorporated into this pool, objectively functions as a possibility-bearer which might bring about discovery and creation; and that birth is an irreversible physical fact—to derive the conclusion that each individual, by virtue of functioning as a possibility-bearer in the operation of the civilizational advancement system, possesses a corresponding structural value. This structural value, which cannot be objectively revoked, while can only be subjectively denied, is precisely the ground of human dignity. Pre-structural dignity possesses four properties: innateness, universality, stability, and finitude. It is capable of explaining the marginal ethical cases that traditional theories cannot cover, thereby providing a more solid philosophical foundation for modern human rights and judicial ethics.