This seminar will study the use of “human dignity” in modern constitutional and human rights law, in the U.S. and elsewhere, and it will also consider the philosophical background to this concept. The course will comprise five sessions, each of which will be devoted to two or more topics in the study of human dignity. 1. To begin, we will examine (a) the vexed question of “dwarf-tossing,” as a way of considering the non-emancipatory aspect of human dignity; and (b) the basis of dignity in Immanuel Kant’s philosophy and its use in what has become known as the German air safety case. 2. Various aspects of the foundational and interpretive relation between human dignity and human rights. 3. (a) Skepticism about human dignity particularly in modern debates about bioethics; (b) also the question of assisted suicide (“death with dignity”). 4. The fourth session will focus on dignitarian issues concerning punishment and detention: (a) debates about the death penalty and life imprisonment without parole; and (b) the meaning of “inhuman and degrading treatment or punishment” in modern human rights law. 5. In the fifth session, we will consider (a) group dignity and (b) dignity in relation to anti-discrimination law. The reading requirements for the seminar will be quite modest, but our discussions will enable us to weave doctrinal and normative conceptions in a rich tapestry of critical understanding.