At a time when answering the question of what it means to be human is more and more urgent, the idea of 'human dignity' is increasingly offered as an influential response, but what does it mean? John Loughlin's book provides a welcome assessment of current debates on what the concept means from a Catholic perspective, tracing its origins in Imago Dei and its subsequent complex and contested history, through to contemporary debates on its meaning and functions. The book is a timely and penetrating reassessment of this critical concept from a scholar immersed in the diversity of Catholic thought but sensitive also to other religious and non-religious narratives that challenge that tradition. A tour de force.

Christopher McCrudden, Professor of Human Rights and Equality Law, Queen's University, Belfast, Ireland

This work offers a panoramic vision of the Catholic understanding of human dignity, following the twists and turns in the intellectual and political history of some two millennia. It will make an excellent introduction to the field for students of political philosophy, jurisprudence and church history. The author has a gift for making clear the movements in human thought that intersect, for better or worse, with the Catholic teaching.

Tracey Rowland, St. John Paul II Chair of Theology, University of Notre Dame (Australia)