Human Dignity in Asia
Dialogue between Law and Culture

Interdisciplinary exploration of Asian understandings of human dignity and human rights in courts, religion, and socio-political changes.

Jimmy Chia-Shin Hsu (Edited by)

9781108835749, Cambridge University Press

Hardback, published 15 September 2022

480 pages
23.5 x 15.9 x 2.7 cm, 0.735 kg

'This book fills a significant gap in our understanding of dignity in Asian cultures. With in-depth country studies complemented by thematic investigations of dignity's religious and cultural significance across the region, this book is ambitious in scope and exceptionally well executed. By setting legal decisions and political reforms against the backdrop of cultural, economic, religious, and social traditions and shifts, Hsu and his contributors demonstrate that human dignity has been and continues to be a central tenet of legal culture throughout Asia. This is essential reading for anyone interested in how the law reflects and protects human dignity.' Erin Daly, author of Dignity Rights: Courts, Constitutions, and the Worth of the Human Person (2020); Professor of Law, Delaware Law School, Widener University

Using interdisciplinary methods, this book is a pioneering exploration of Asian understandings of human dignity and human rights. It encompasses rigorous scrutiny of dignity jurisprudence in major Asian apex courts, detailed philosophical analysis of dignity in religious traditions, and contextualized socio-political analysis of religious dignity discourse in several Asian societies. This is an innovative systematic survey of how human dignity is understood in Asia, demonstrating how those understandings converge and diverge with other parts of the world. Synthesising legal, philosophical, and sociological expertise, this volume furthers the dialogue between Asia and the West, and advances debates on whether human rights are universal or particular to any one region. As many of the world's liberal democracies are challenged by polarization and populism, this comparative study of human dignity broadens our horizons and offers a potential alternative to a rigidified social imagination.

Introduction. Human dignity, human rights, and cultural change in Asia Jimmy Chia-Shin Hsu
1. Human dignity in Indian constitutional adjudication Pritam Baruah
2. The development of individual dignity in Japan: Overcoming constraints in law, family and society Keigo Obayashi
3. Constitutional discourse on human dignity in South Korea: A critical appraisal Chaihark Hahm
4. Human dignity in the jurisprudence of the Taiwan constitutional court Jimmy Chia-Shin Hsu
5. The dignity Factor: Interpreting the Philippine constitution J. R. Robert Real
6. Human dignity in the jurisprudence of the Indonesian constitutional court Nadirsyah Hosen
7. Dignity as a constitutional value in Hong Kong: Toward a contextual approach? Kelley Loper
8. Human dignity and relational constitutionalism in Singapore Li-ann Thio
9. Personal dignity under Chinese constitutional law Xiaobo Zhai
10. Virtue, dignity, and constitutional democracy: A Confucian perspective Sungmoon Kim
11. Buddhist philosophical approaches to human dignity Anton Sevilla-Liu
12. Dignity and status in ancient and medieval India Timothy Lubin
13. Human dignity, Pancasila, and Islam: contexts and contestations in Indonesia Etin Anwar
14. Catholicism and human dignity in the Philippines Jonathan T. Chow
15. Protestantism and human dignity in South Korea JinHyok Kim
Index.

Subject Areas: Comparative law [LAM], Human rights [JPVH], Religious ethics [HRAM1]