Human being dignity

Abstract

The juridical fundament of personality rights contemporaneous theory is the principle of human being dignity, contained in art. 1º, III of the Federal Constitution. Such statement comes from the fact that the dignity principle is the main matrix, having to be read and interpreted in all Brazilian national ordaining. Personality rights always have as a starting point the principle of human being dignity and, secondly, some fundamental constitutional principles, scattered among several titles, which guarantee the exercise of the human personality free development. Personality rights are numerus abertus, which extend the person’s protection to all other circumstances necessary to guarantee the human being, independently if such guarantees are expressively disposed (CF, art. 5º, § 2º). Actually, personality rights are infinite, since there will always be situations not typified that put the human being dignity at risk. The human being dignity is culturally conditioned. It does not derive from a natural law or a natural right, but from successive historical conquests that are rooted in several moments, such as those in the Christian Doctrine, in the Illuminism, in the Kantianism, and in the reactions against Nazism. The question about relativity or absolutism in the principle of human being dignity is very instigating and troubling. The most correct position is for the relativity of the human being dignity principle, since there could be cases in which the dignity of two people crash, and therefore, one of them having to cede.