Edgar Andrew
Centre for Applied Ethics, University of Wales Cardiff, P.O. Box 94, Cardiff CF10 3XB, UK.
Med Health Care Philos. 2003;6(2):111-21. doi: 10.1023/a:1024162811282.
The purpose of this paper is to explore the visual representation of dignity, through the particular example of the seventeenth century Spanish painter Diego Velázquez. Velázquez works at a point in Western history when modern conceptions of dignity are beginning to be formed. It is argued that Velázquez' portraits of royalty and aristocracy articulate a tension between a feudal conception of majesty and a modern conception of the dignity of merit. On this level, modern conceptions of dignity of merit are understood in terms of a struggle to excel in particular activities, and thus to overcome the risk of failure. More radically, Velázquez' portraits of dwarfs and the mentally disabled are argued to be expressive of dignity, not by finding a positive representation of the sitter's dignity, or to find scales of activities by which they can be positively assessed, but rather by grounding their dignity, negatively, in a protest against indignity and humiliation. Drawing on Honneth's analysis of dignity in terms of a theory of recognition, it is argued that the indignity of the court dwarf lies in the fracturing of their communication with the rest of society. The task of repairing that fractured communication is achieved, not by representing a dignified ideal, but rather by drawing attention to the prejudices that serve to exclude the humiliated from full participation in society. In conclusion, it is suggested that the conceptualisation and representation of the elderly today finds effective exemplars in Velázquez' portraits of court dwarfs, rather than in his portraits of the elderly.
本文旨在通过17世纪西班牙画家迭戈·委拉斯开兹的具体事例，探讨尊严的视觉呈现。委拉斯开兹创作于西方历史上现代尊严观念开始形成的时期。有人认为，委拉斯开兹笔下的皇室和贵族肖像，揭示了封建威严观念与现代功绩尊严观念之间的紧张关系。在这个层面上，现代功绩尊严观念被理解为在特定活动中力求卓越，从而克服失败风险的一种努力。更激进的是，有人认为委拉斯开兹笔下的侏儒和智障者肖像表达了尊严，并非通过找到被画者尊严的正面呈现，或找到可对他们进行正面评估的活动尺度，而是通过将他们的尊严消极地建立在对侮辱和羞辱的抗议之上。借鉴霍耐特基于承认理论对尊严的分析，有人认为宫廷侏儒的屈辱在于他们与社会其他成员交流的破裂。修复这种破裂交流的任务，不是通过呈现一个有尊严的理想来完成，而是通过提请人们注意那些将受辱者排除在充分参与社会之外的偏见来实现。总之，有人认为，当今老年人的概念化和呈现，在委拉斯开兹的宫廷侏儒肖像中能找到有效的范例，而非在他画的老年人肖像中。
