The end of the pandemic: a starting point for defending humanity and freedom

By Prokopis Pavlopoulos

After the end of the Covid-19 pandemic—which scientists believe is already in sight, at least in Europe—we need to «reconnect» Man and Freedom, as a means of defending his value and ensuring the unhindered development of his personality.

A. At the same time, we must find the «vaccine» that will lead us to deepen our understanding of ourselves and our «neighbor»—our «neighbor» in the reality of globalization, since, with today's painful experience, our «neighbor» is every fellow human being on the planet—in the final analysis, Humanity itself.  In other words, this «vaccine» is intended—and this is why its importance is invaluable—to reveal to us, on the one hand, the value of Humanity as the indivisible core of its existence and, on the other hand, its crucial duty to respect it in every aspect, from the most important to the seemingly most insignificant.

B. For us Greeks, this emblematic challenge may prove easier to tackle and more accessible if we consider the following two parameters:

1. Firstly, our Humanism, which is a fundamental component of our psyche, due to our historical and cultural origins.  Let us not forget that Humanism has been a fundamental characteristic of Greek Culture, from its roots to its modern form, as it was shaped by the convergence of the Ancient Greek Spirit with Christian Teaching. Teachings that «deify» Humanism, drawing the line between «love one another» and its absolute form, namely «love your neighbor as yourself.»   In this way, Ancient Greece and Christian Teaching are two of the three pillars of our common European Culture (the third being Ancient Rome), and that is why the latter has been beneficially ’inoculated« by the spirit of Humanism and Solidarity. Our culture is and will remain human-centered. Otherwise, it will not survive.

2. And, secondly, the institutional legacy provided by our Constitution, establishing, in accordance with the provisions of Article 2(1), the obligation to protect human dignity and respect for it as a fundamental clause, which runs through the interpretation and application of all other constitutional provisions.  In the sense that the above fundamental clause constitutes a real «interpretative basis» for the provisions of the Constitution and the legislation in accordance with it, and in particular for the provisions relating to the exercise of rights.  And at this point, it should be noted that, in dubio - that is, ’in case of doubt« - the interpretation of the above provisions that is consistent with the letter and spirit of the provision of Article 2(1) of the Constitution should be chosen with regard to the fundamental clause of the obligation to respect and protect human dignity.

C. It is more than obvious that the Constitutional Legislator, aided by the vast expressive capabilities of our language, did not arrive at the concept of «value» —and not the internationally established concept of «dignity»—in the context of the provision of Article 2, paragraph 1 of the Constitution.  His choice to place the above provision in Section A of Part I of the Constitution must also be considered highly conscious and symbolic.  These facts must therefore be taken into account in their entirety by those who interpret and apply constitutional provisions in general.

1. The provision of Article 2(1) of the Constitution establishes a general clause, in light of which both the other provisions of the Constitution and all the regulations of the Legal Order, which are instituted in implementation of the Constitution, must be interpreted and applied.  This provision elevates human beings to the supreme value of the legal order, giving both the Constitution and the legal order a strongly human-centered character.

2. In light of the above finding, the provisions of the Legal Order must be interpreted in accordance with the letter and spirit of Article 2(1) of the Constitution. and, moreover, in dubio, the interpretation that does not undermine the constitutional concept of the value of human beings must be chosen.

D. The value of Man, according to the provisions of Article 2, paragraph 1 of the Constitution, is a concept that is self-evidently broader than that of dignity, which also implies that the institutional «protective mantle» of the value of Man greatly exceeds the scope of human personality and the means of its free development.

1. To be precise, the constitutionally enshrined value of Man concerns Man as a biological organism, with intelligence and consciousness—and, in this respect, differentiates him from other living beings—and protects his life, from his conception to his death.

2. In light of the above, the value of the human being, pursuant to Article 2(1) of the Constitution, has legal consequences concerning:

a) First, the individual himself, with the main consequence being that, although he may be protected through this and freely develop his personality, institutionally he does not have a right to life, which excludes, among other things, the right to suicide and euthanasia.

b) Secondly, the State, with the main consequence being that it must respect and protect the value of human life until death. And indeed, not only by avoiding harming it, but also through positive actions, e.g. taking special measures in favor of the economically disadvantaged who are seriously ill, especially at the end of their lives, so that their death occurs only in a natural and dignified manner.

c) Thirdly, fellow human beings, with the main consequences being, on the one hand, the prohibition of their participation in suicide and euthanasia.  And, on the other hand, their participation in the process of transplants only under conditions of genuine Humanism and substantial Solidarity, and in no way under conditions that lead to practices of commercialization of the human body.