The research project is an Initial Training Network (ITN) established by 6 universities and 9 non-academic partner organizations and engaging scholars from various disciplines. The ITN will trace the roots and transformations of the human values of dignity and freedom in theological and philosophical traditions, among other things with the aim of understanding modern debates and conflicts about these values.
The idea of human freedom and dignity is fundamental to the modern concept of human rights and for the welfare state model on which most European countries build their societies. However, the long history and developments of this conception of humans have never undergone a comprehensive large-scale analysis. This is what the ITN aims to do: to investigate the philosophical and theological traditions behind the modern Western conception of humans as free, valuable, and dignified beings, and how these traditions developed chronologically and geographically. The network will focus on the reception and assimilation of the theological ideas expounded by the church father Origen from the 3rd century.
The ITN has 3 scientific objectives. The 1st objective is to clarify the transmission and reception of Origen’s ideas about human freedom and dignity in the Medieval West, focusing on Augustine, John Eriugena, Gregory the Great and Bernhard of Clairvaux. The second objective investigates the early modern and modern periods focusing on the reception of Origen’s ideas in an English, Dutch, Danish and German context. The third objective is to clarify the role that ideas about human freedom and dignity play in contemporary society.
By focusing on the reception of Origen’s theological and philosophical arguments for and ideas about human dignity and freedom in later traditions, the ITN will expound the function of the transcendent and philosophical dimension in relation to human dignity and freedom. Such a project is highly relevant today since the modern Western conception of humans as free, valuable, and dignified beings is among the fundamental pillars of Western democracies and human rights – and these pillars are under pressure, both from political and religious movements and from global crises (like economy and environment) that limit the individual’s autonomy. However, when we have a historically informed and comprehensive understanding of these fundamental values and their origins and development, we can argue more authoritatively for their continued existence and value.
