What My Sister Taught Me About Humanity

"The comment caused controversy, with many calling it upsetting and insensitive. What his comment also did, though, was get me to think about my own experiences with disability from a philosophical perspective. I am not disabled myself, and I specialise in Comparative Philosophy, not Philosophy of Disability. What experience of disability, then, do I have? It is rather, the experience I had with someone else that explains why I feel that I have a genuine stake in this debate."

"Some even exclude them from the moral community through the claim they lack certain attributes which make them a 'person', such as rationality. I wish to comment on these issues from a perspective derived from growing up with Laura, and argue not only that it can be a blessing to have a disabled child in the family but that cognitively disabled people should be said to have an equal moral status by challenging the idea that reason is the unique arbiter of what constitutes personhood."

Scott Morrison's comment about being 'blessed' not to have children with disabilities prompted reflection on personal experience with disability. A younger sister named Laura had severe mental and physical disabilities including agenesis of the corpus callosum and multiple health problems. Philosophical literature, notably Eva Feder Kittay's work, reveals misunderstandings about cognitively disabled people and exclusionary claims that rationality defines personhood. Familial caregiving experience demonstrates emotional value and moral worth in relationships with disabled individuals. Cognitively disabled people deserve equal moral status, and personhood should not hinge solely on rational capacities; instead a more inclusive conception of moral personhood is required.

Read at Philosophynow