Cicero and Leo the Great: An Inquiry into the Oldest Bed of Human Dignity

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  • キケロとレオ一世 : 「人間の尊厳」の最古層を尋ねて

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In this article I examine Cicero's famous passage in his De Officiis (1, 106) that has been interpreted as the first reference to human dignity in the history of thought. In this passage Cicero uses the word “dignitas” which is adapted to human nature. However, in the text he does not use such phrases as “dignitas hominis” or “dignitas naturae humanae.” Instead, he combines “dignitas” with the words, “excellentia” and “praestantia.” Thus we can conclude that Cicero did not intend to proclaim “dignitas hominis,” or human dignity. Thereafter in the Renaissance period, a number of thinkers came to interpret human dignity in reference to Cicero’s text. On the other hand, Leo the Great (440–461) refers to “dignitas naturae (humanae)” several times in his sermons. He often recommends that people become philanthropic toward paupers because people all possess the same human nature of being made in the image of God. The image of God was damaged by the first human beings, but was recovered by the incarnation of Christ. God has his own dignity, so every human being has the same dignity since they are made in the image of God. We can conclude that it is not Cicero but Leo the Great who proclaims that we all have dignity as human beings. In the disaster of COVID-19, we pray that people will be taken care of without exception because we all have the same human dignity as we are all made in the image of God.

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