While some people resent the imperfection, the inconvenience, and the expense of persons with disabilities, others see in them an invitation to learn how to love deeply without cou
In the communities of l’Arche we live and journey together—men and women with disabilities and those who feel called to share their lives with them. We are all learning the pain an
Martha Nussbaum’s Hiding from Humanity, links the philosophical understanding of emotion with important issues in ethics, law and political philosophy, and engages with empirical m
Among the topics in philosophy and disability, the relationship between disability and justice has received the lion’s share of attention. No doubt this is in part because justice,
This entry discusses the relationship between disability and well-being. Disabilities are commonly thought to be unfortunate, but whether this is true is unclear, and, if it is tru
In the past 50 years, there has been burgeoning philosophical interest in well-being, health, and personal relationships. There has also been increasing philosophical writing on di
"Look up and raise your heads, because your redemption is drawing near" (Lk 21: 28). In the Gospel text offered for our meditation on this First Sunday of Advent, St Luke highlight
I am very happy to have this opportunity to spend a brief moment with you. I thank Cardinal Egan for his welcome and especially thank your representatives for their kind words and
There are a number of moral and philosophical issues around the definition and treatment of disability. It has long been common to treat disability, impairment, incapacity, and handicap, as more or less equivalent. In recent times, however, some theorists and activists have argued that there is no such thing as being disabled only being differently-abled, and that handicap is a function of social provision. In short no-one is objectively disabled or handicapped just disadvantaged in relation to others. Part of the motivation for these arguments is to counter the stigma that often been attached to disability. While that motivation is laudable, the denial of the fact of disability may disadvantage those it was intended to benefit, since it undermines the case for providing assistance and ensuring equality for, and anti-discrimination legislation against those of limited or diminished mental and physical functions. More broadly, the idea of disability, particularly natural disability, presumes an account of normal human capacities and functions which are related to the achievement of human goods, and through those of living well.