Editing Dignity (section)

===Immanuel Kant===
{{see also|Kantian ethics}}
A philosopher of the [[Age of Enlightenment]] (18th century), [[Immanuel Kant]] held that there were things that should not be discussed in terms of value, and that these things could be said to have dignity. '[[Value (ethics)|Value]]' is necessarily relative, because the value of something depends on a particular observer's judgment of that thing. Things that are ''not'' relative{{snd}}that are "ends in themselves", in Kant's terminology{{snd}}are by extension beyond all value, and a thing is an ''end in itself'' only if it has a moral dimension; if it represents a choice between right and wrong. In Kant's words: "[[Morality]], and [[human nature|humanity]] as capable of it, is that which alone has dignity."<ref>Immanuel Kant, ''Fundamental Principles of the Metaphysic of Morals'', trans. by Thomas Kingsmill Abbott (Second Section: Transition From Popular Moral Philosophy To The Metaphysic Of Morals).</ref> Specifically with respect to human dignity, which his writings brought from relative obscurity in Western philosophy into a focal point for philosophers, Kant held that "free will" is essential; human dignity is related to human agency, the ability of humans to choose their own actions.<ref name="O'Hara1999">{{cite book|last=O'Hara|first=Phillip Anthony|title=Encyclopedia of political economy|chapter-url=https://archive.org/details/encyclopediaofpo02ohar|chapter-url-access=registration|chapter=Human dignity|year=1999|publisher=Routledge|isbn=978-0415187176|page=471}}<!--|access-date=13 June 2010--></ref>