Disability, Discrimination, and Justice

How should we understand disability, and what responsibilities do just societies have toward their disabled members? How should we conceptualize discrimination based on disability and what are the distinctive challenges facing disabled people in this regard? What lessons can we learn from debates on disability for theories of justice, bioethics and egalitarianism?

This PhD course explores these questions through the lens of contemporary literature in philosophy of disability and disability studies, intersecting with ongoing debates in political philosophy, social theory, moral philosophy, bioethics and the law. On the first day of the course, we will examine the most influential disability models and definitions. The second day will be devoted to the topic of disability discrimination, including practical issues regarding health care rationing, which came to the fore after the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic. On the third and final day, we will examine questions related to disability and broader debates about justice, such as the relationship between disability and well-being, disability and sexuality, and disability and epistemic injustice. Authors whose work we will read include, among others, Anita Silvers, Elizabeth Barnes, Jessica Begon, John Swain and Sally French, Guy Kahane and Julian Savulescu, Harlan Hahn, Sean Aas and David Wasserman, Susan Wendell, Tom Shakespeare, Jackie Leach Scully, Elizabeth Anderson, Jonathan Wolff, and Linda Barclay.