Glenn Hughes (1951–2024) was professor emeritus at St. Mary's University. He was the inaugural holder of the St. Mary's Chair in Catholic Philosophy. He was the author of several books including From Dickinson to Dylan: Visions of Transcendence in Modernist Literature and Transcendence and History: The Search for Ultimacy from Ancient Societies to Postmodernity.James Greenaway is the San José-Lonergan Chair in Catholic Philosophy at St. Mary's University. He is the author of A Philosophy of Belonging: Persons, Politics, Cosmos.

• ForewordPrefacePart 1. Preliminaries1. Honesty2. Meaning & Value3. The Cosmos4. Belonging5. The Desire to Know6. Myth7. The World of Space and Time8. Science9. Misunderstanding Human Nature10. Constants of Human NaturePart 2. The Idea of Inherent Human Dignity11. Inherent Human Dignity12. Inherent Dignity in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (I)13. Inherent Dignity in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (II)14. Persons, Rights, and Dignified Living15. Digression: The Universal Search for Dignified Living16. The Challenge of Respecting Inherent Dignity17. Transcendent Mystery and Shakenness18. Eclipsing Transcendent Mystery19. Inherent Dignity as Both Concept and Mythic Symbol20. The Refusal to Understand Inherent Dignity21. Inherent Dignity and IdeaologyEpilogue: Love and Inherent DignityBibliography

"Hughes shows us the way to reclaim our inherent dignity within a world of meaning. This book promises to be the go-to volume that concisely explains not just that we should affirm inherent dignity for all human beings, but how and why we must." —John von Heyking, author of Comprehensive Judgement and Absolute Selflessness"Inherent Human Dignity fills a need for a thoroughgoing philosophical defense of the notion of inherent human value and dignity." —David Baggett, co-author of The Moral Argument