The idea of human dignity in western philisophy and culture

This article is an analysis of the change in attitude to the concept of human dignity in historical retrospective. The author traces the content of the term "dignity" in different periods of Western philosophical thought. It is shown how in the course of historical development the power dignity understanding was replaced by an essential one, became universal, although it had different connotations in the culture of different eras, and over time it acquired the significance of social status. Considering the transformation of attitudes towards people, the author comes to the conclusion that only religious culture is able to maintain an understanding of dignity for all participants in society at a single level