Membership in a kind: Nature, norms, and profound disability

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Membership in a kind: Nature, norms, and profound disability

Vorhaus, J; (2022) Membership in a kind: Nature, norms, and profound disability. Metaphilosophy , 53 (1) pp. 25-37. 10.1111/meta.12533. Green open access

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Abstract

Can rationality serve as the basis of respect for people who do not have this capacity? This paper starts from the assumption that rationality is both the norm for the human species and the basis of respect. The paper considers whether the species norm determines the nature of those profoundly disabled people who do not themselves possess the norm-related characteristics, and if it does, whether this implies that these same individuals are owed respect. The principal conclusion is that, while a positive response to these questions has its merits, it faces hard questions of its own, some of which appear insoluble. If that is what they are, then any attempt to ground respect for profoundly disabled people on an appeal to rationality as the species norm will fail, and those of us who believe that this group of human beings is owed respect will have to come up with an alternative explanation.

Type:	Article
Title:	Membership in a kind: Nature, norms, and profound disability
Open access status:	An open access version is available from UCL Discovery
DOI:	10.1111/meta.12533
Publisher version:	https://doi.org/10.1111/meta.12533
Language:	English
Additional information:	This version is the author accepted manuscript. For information on re-use, please refer to the publisher’s terms and conditions.
Keywords:	Profound disability, rationality, species membership, species nature, species norms
UCL classification:	UCL UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Education UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Education > UCL Institute of Education UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Education > UCL Institute of Education > IOE - Education, Practice and Society
URI:	https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/10180261