The role of legal argumentation and human dignity in constitutional courts

Proceedings of the Special Workshops held at the 28th World Congress of the International Association for Philosophy of Law and Social Philosophy in Lisbon, 2017. Legal argumentation by constitutional courts, particularly on matters such as human dignity, has been a central focus of interest from both theoretical and practical perspectives. This e-book initially addresses the role of legal argumentation in general, encompassing empirical and comparative perspectives on constitutional argumentative practices. It also includes a comparative assessment of constitutional argumentation versus the arguments presented by other courts, as well as by decision-makers. Secondly, the book focuses on how constitutional courts reason with the concept of human dignity. This concept takes on many different forms, though very rarely in an objective manner. It is embedded in various Western constitutions, although constitutional courts and scholars tend to disagree on its meaning and content. Finally, the e-book aims to shed light on the contentious issue of human dignity from a normative and philosophical perspective.