From Heaven to Earth: Interpretations and Conceptualizations of Human Dignity in Iran

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to understand how human dignity is experienced by new generations of Iranian university students, in comparison with the interpretations of theological and religious authorities of the Islamic Republic of Iran. The research uses a qualitative approach to collect data in Isfahan and research sample includes 19 university and eight seminary students. The results indicate that there is contrast between official declarations of human dignity and personal accounts of experiencing it. This dichotomy is described in terms of idealized dignity vs. criticized reality. Also, university students associate human dignity with human rights, and see the necessity of a variety of rights that men and women alike should be generally able to enjoy in a specific society, in order to elevate human dignity. Seminary students, however, look at dignity from within religion and believe that it is the duty of the Muslim individual to work out one’s way toward dignity. In other words, university students look for general moral notions such as freedom, love, and equality to objectify human dignity, whereas seminary students look at human dignity as a religious concept, a God-given gift, whose actualization depends on the believer’s endeavor to obtain it.