Hello, my name's David Rundsman and this is past-present future, the History of Ideas podcast.

Today, the first episode in a short series with PPF regular, the writer and philosopher Lear Ipie,

talking about the history and the meaning of the idea of dignity. We're doing this for two reasons,

first of all because it is one of the most important concepts in the history of ideas,

and second, because Leia's new book, out now, is called Indignity. We're going

to come onto that, the book and the idea of indignity, in the third of these conversations,

but we're starting with dignity itself. What does it mean, and where does it come from?

We recorded these conversations with Leia, thanks to the miracle of modern technology,

with me in Cambridge, England, and Leia in Delhi in India.

If in one or two places the sound isn't quite what you used to, that's the reason why.

We are going to be talking about her book in detail in the third part of this series.

We reference it in passing in this episode, but we're going to be really focusing on an idea

and a philosopher that we've talked to Leah about before, but never in this depth. Dignity and can't.

But we're also talking extensively about death and about suicide, and we begin by talking about

where dignity comes from and what it's got to do with the old Roman concept of dignitas.

Lear, we're talking about a concept dignity, which today we're going to really focus on a

philosopher, you and I have talked about quite a lot in the past. I'm always grateful to learn more

because it's somewhere outside of my comfort zone, Kant and the Kantian idea of dignity,

which is really

central to understanding the whole concept.

And that's going to be our focus, but then we're going to broaden it out.

But we also have to sort of get to Kant, I think, because I believe it's true.

...