The lecture examined the relation between human dignity as a general category and the dignity properly accorded to humans of different shapes and sizes: infants, teenagers, rational adults, the elderly, and so on. It asked what the relationship is between human dignity in general and human dignity as a basis for the specific forms of respect that humans of different kinds may command.

Jeremy Waldron is University Professor and Professor of Law at New York University.

The 2024 Dewey Lecture was presented on February 7, 2024.