THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN HUMAN AND NON-HUMAN DIGNITY

In order to address the current ecological crisis, modern society requires an ethical and legal discourse that directs itself to the whole of creation, rather than only to human society�s dependence on its natural environment or its survival. A conception of dignity is therefore needed that will be able to relate human and non-human dignity. This article proposes a multi-relational understanding of dignity based on a reading of the Genesis narrative, as well as other major themes of Scripture. It entails that human and non-human dignity ought to be understood and evaluated in terms of the dignity of the entirety