If one were attempting to find a home for disability discourse within philosophy, the most obviou... more If one were attempting to find a home for disability discourse within philosophy, the most obvious place to look would be bioethics. Discussions of disability are included in many of the difficult moral and biomedical issues which bioethics attempts to address, such as prenatal diagnosis, genetic testing for disabling conditions, abortion, euthanasia, sterilization of the mentally disabled, infanticide, health care resources, and questions of competence, informed consent, and quality of life. There is no doubt that the debates in these difficult areas are of great importance, not only philosophically, but for the individuals whose lives are directly affected by them. However, bioethics is not the only arena for philosophical discussions about disability. There are many philosophical issues surrounding disability that are beyond the realm of bioethics. Philosophers have begun to explore disability in the context of phenomenology, political and social philosophy, theories of embodiment, and feminism. However, much of the current literature focuses either explicitly on physical disability, speaks more generally about "disability" without differentiating between physical and cognitive disabilities, or discusses cognitive disability in terms which do not reflect the problematic nature of the category itself. Thus, !•would like to focus specifically on cognitive disability (1) because, though it has been given almost exclusive philosophical attention within a medical-moral context, I think it raises many profound questions that go beyond bioethics. I will begin with a brief sketch of the ways cognitive disabilities have been treated within bioethical discourse, give a number of reasons for going beyond this approach, and conclude with some reflections on other philosophical areas where cognitive disability is relevant and important. Cognitive disability has been given particular attention in bioethics. Specifically biomedical questions include prenatal testing and genetic screening for cognitive disabilities, aborting fetuses with such conditions, and the sterilization of the mentally disabled. These issues are discussed from a wide variety of ethical perspectives, and additional questions are often raised regarding rights, consent, competence, and definitions of personhood (i.e., are these individuals persons, and how should we treat them?). There are also difficult legal issues which arise in the context of cognitive disabilities: wrongful birth suits (2), surrogacy battles (3), and cases of infanticide (4). Finally, the topic of cognitive disability and its association with eugenics has been raised in connection with the philosophical and political controversies around the Human Genome Project and advances in genetics (including gene therapy and genetic screening). There is a mosaic of biomedical and ethical
This chapter provides a series of philosophical meditations on the idea that music has the power ... more This chapter provides a series of philosophical meditations on the idea that music has the power to create sonic worlds that are beyond language, that wordlessness is not worldlessness. Taking Jan Zwicky’s concept of lyric philosophy and the “possibility of loss” as a starting point, it considers the relationship between disability, loss, and gain. It then examines the philosophical and musical significance of “wordlessness,” the “burden” of language, and the idea of silence as sound. Music can also create embodied, mutable worlds that are made of movements, gestures, and temporalities. To encounter these sonic worlds is to recognize mystery and the incalculable, as they point to something beyond what philosophy can define. These reflections are inspired by philosophers who have addressed the limits of language and the philosophical significance of music: Friedrich Nietzsche, Gabriel Marcel, Ludwig Wittgenstein, and Jan Zwicky.
... The Faces of Intellectual Disability: Philosophical Reflections. Bloomington: Indiana Univers... more ... The Faces of Intellectual Disability: Philosophical Reflections. Bloomington: Indiana University Press. Diamond, Cora. 1991. The Importance of Being Human. In Human Beings, edited by DavidCockburn, 3562. ... Hypatia 17, no. 3:11845. PubMed. Rafter, Nicole Hahn. 1988. ...
This essay explores the various ways that music is relevant to the lives of people with intellect... more This essay explores the various ways that music is relevant to the lives of people with intellectual disabilities. Moving beyond a therapeutic and medical model, musical experience can reveal certain dimensions of the self, establish ethical relationships, and promote new kinds of flourishing that, in turn, challenge dominant assumptions about the lives of people with intellectual disabilities. Taking music seriously also raises important critical questions for the field of Disability Studies regarding the marginalization of people with intellectual disabilities, the value of scientific and theoretical discourse, and the very meaning of “intellectual disability.”
Journal of Intellectual Disability Research, Apr 1, 2010
This article poses the question, 'Who is the expert?' in relation to people with intellectual dis... more This article poses the question, 'Who is the expert?' in relation to people with intellectual disabilities. It begins with an exploration of what it means to assert moral authority in relation to people with IDs, and makes the argument that 'experts' who draw moral boundaries, define conceptions of the 'good' and quality of life for people must consider how to occupy this position responsibly. It then considers a second form of authority-epistemic authority-and explores the moral responsibility that accompanies the practice of putting forth knowledge claims about ID. This involves acknowledging three potential problems: distancing, oppression and dehumanization. The article concludes with questions that point towards greater interdisciplinary dialogue regarding authority, responsibility and the role of the expert.
Hypatia: A Journal of Feminist Philosophy, Oct 1, 2001
Each copy of any part of a JSTOR transmission must contain the same copyright notice that appears... more Each copy of any part of a JSTOR transmission must contain the same copyright notice that appears on the screen or printed page of such transmission. JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range of content in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new forms of scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact
This essay explores various philosophical approaches to cognitive disability within feminist phil... more This essay explores various philosophical approaches to cognitive disability within feminist philosophy. In doing so, it addresses three broad questions: What positive contributions can feminist philosophy make to the philosophy of cognitive disability? How have feminist philosophers critiqued the presence and absence of cognitive disability in philosophy? And what challenges does cognitive disability pose to feminist philosophy itself? The essay begins with definitions and models of disability and then turns to feminist work on cognitive disability in moral and political philosophy, bioethics, and epistemology. It concludes with some methodological considerations.
See NIRMALA EREVELLES, DISABILITY AND DIFFERENCE IN GLOBAL CONTEXT, 147-171 (Palgrave MacMillan e... more See NIRMALA EREVELLES, DISABILITY AND DIFFERENCE IN GLOBAL CONTEXT, 147-171 (Palgrave MacMillan ed., 2011) ("forging a linkage between Critical Race Theory (CRT) and materialist disability studies."). See also CHRISTOPHER M. BELL, BLACKNESS AND DISABILITY: CRITICAL EXAMINATIONS AND CULTURAL INTERVENTIONS (2011) (providing additional examples). 5 I recognize that this is a broad term. The American Association on Intellectual and Developmental Disability defines intellectual disability as "a disability characterized by significant limitations in both intellectual functioning and in adaptive behavior, which covers many everyday social and practical skills. This disability originates before the age of 18." Definition of Intellectual Disability, AMERICAN ASSOCIATION ON INTELLECTUAL AND DEVELOPMENTAL DISABILITIES, http://aaidd.org/intellectualdisability/definition#.WOu2AmXufFI [https://perma.cc/TH25-LRFD]. However, the questions raised in this article can be asked of a broader range of disabilities that affect behavior and cognition. 6 Id. 7 IQ scores, for example, are not part of the AAIDD definition of intellectual disability, but are still part of some classifications in the DSM-V and employed in legal contexts. Id. 8 CARLSON, supra note 1, at 113.
Journal of Policy and Practice in Intellectual Disabilities, Jun 1, 2019
In this response to "The Quiet Progress of the New Eugenics," I explore the nature of the silence... more In this response to "The Quiet Progress of the New Eugenics," I explore the nature of the silences surrounding practices aimed at ending the lives of people with IDD. Taking as a point of departure philosopher Michel Foucault's claim that silence can be productive, and that it is intimately connected to various strategies and power relations that govern discourse, I ask: What silences and absences permeate these fields of inquiry, techniques, and technologies? Whose voices are heard and with what authority? And, how do the authors reveal and break these silences and make room for more voices? I begin by identifying the ways that the authors unmask the connections between these practices and the "old' eugenics and reveal the underlying assumption that the lives of people of IDD are of poor quality. I then explore three groups whose voices have been silenced or absent: people with IDD who can speak for themselves; people with IDD and other cognitive disabilities who are unable to speak for themselves; and those who are closely connected to people with IDD. I conclude by pointing to further questions and distinctions that are important to address when evaluating and responding to practices aimed at ending the lives of people with IDD.
In many ways, my interests in philosophy, music, and intellectual disability began in three-part ... more In many ways, my interests in philosophy, music, and intellectual disability began in three-part harmony. I became interested in the connections between philosophy and intellectual disability when, as an undergraduate, I would go from a volunteer job in a classroom for children labeled “multiply handicapped” to a seminar on the Platonic dialogues. I wondered what philosophers had to say about individuals who appeared to lack what they had defined as that most human quality—reason—and thus began my interest in the relationship between philosophy and disability. At the same time, my encounters with the children at the Rehabilitation School were musical ones. There were many students in the classroom where I worked who were incredibly musical, and being a musician myself, I was eager to share this world with them. In playing and listening to music together, in both traditional and very nontraditional ways, I forged an immediate connection with them: one grounded in a shared world, a mutual love for what many would call a distinctly human experience.
This article explores what it means to include intellectual disability (ID) in philosophical disc... more This article explores what it means to include intellectual disability (ID) in philosophical discourse and in the philosophy classroom. Taking Audre Lorde’s claim that “the master’s tools will never dismantle the master’s house” as a starting point, it asks how certain forms of cognitive ableism have excluded ID from the “philosopher’s house.” Drawing upon Michel Foucault’s work as a theoretical framework, part one critically examines the ways that ID has been included, excluded, and constructed within philosophical discourse. Part two then considers what it would mean for ID and people with an ID to be included in the philosophy classroom. It offers some examples of how the work in disability studies, philosophies of disability, and philosophy of art can lead to a more inclusive and transformative pedagogy that will generate new critical questions and expand our philosophical dwelling places.
This chapter presents a brief taxonomy of “others,” both human and nonhuman, that one encounters ... more This chapter presents a brief taxonomy of “others,” both human and nonhuman, that one encounters through music. Human others that populate the musical experience include performers and co-performers, audience members and listeners (or witnesses), composers, and conductors. Nonhuman others include musical instruments and the musical work itself. While the subsequent chapters explore the human relationships with and between performers and witnesses in far greater depth, this opening chapter spends some time addressing the significance of our connections to musical instruments, the ontological status of the musical work, and the presence and absence of the composer when we experience these musical works.
This chapter maps out connections between feminist and disability theories to bring into relief t... more This chapter maps out connections between feminist and disability theories to bring into relief the multiple ways that feminist philosophers are partaking in these conversations. It begins with a discussion of what is distinctive about feminist approaches to disability, while recognizing that there is not a single, univocal “feminist philosophy of disability.” It then turns to specific areas of philosophical inquiry in which feminist philosophers address disability, including ontological, epistemological, political, ethical, and bioethical considerations. The final section highlights a number of themes central to work in feminist philosophy and disability: embodiment, identity, intersectionality, and the generative and positive dimensions of disability. The chapter concludes by pointing to more recent directions in feminist philosophy of disability. These include disability aesthetics, explorations of disability in the context of technoscience and ecofeminism, and the problem of ableism in philosophy and the academy more broadly.
This chapter argues that musical encounters have the potential to change the configuration of rel... more This chapter argues that musical encounters have the potential to change the configuration of relationships, lessen the effects of stigma, and enlarge the moral imagination. It begins by exploring how the “musical we” is formed; what it means to share musical time, spaces, joy, and flourishing with others; how shared musical experience can transform and transpose relationships; and the nature and significance of musical presence. Building upon the discussion of intellectual disability in previous chapters, it argues that these forms of connection are particularly ethically significant in establishing and expanding relationships with and between individuals with intellectual disabilities. It concludes with a discussion of four specific virtues that can be cultivated both within and beyond the musical encounter: empathy, acknowledged dependence, humility, and solidarity.
This chapter introduces the book’s main argument: that shared musical experience has both epistem... more This chapter introduces the book’s main argument: that shared musical experience has both epistemological and ethical significance. It begins with three personal vignettes, and then explains why bringing music, philosophy, and disability together is original and important for philosophies of music and of disability. It goes on to define and discuss three central concepts—sonification, music, and disability—and examine parallels between music and disability. Before concluding with an overview of the chapters, it makes a number of clarifications regarding the approach: the argument is not intended to overly romanticize the significance of musical experience; second, the focus deliberately moves away from a therapeutic model of music and disability; and finally, that though disability is a central theme, the book’s arguments speak to the value of musical encounters more generally.
If one were attempting to find a home for disability discourse within philosophy, the most obviou... more If one were attempting to find a home for disability discourse within philosophy, the most obvious place to look would be bioethics. Discussions of disability are included in many of the difficult moral and biomedical issues which bioethics attempts to address, such as prenatal diagnosis, genetic testing for disabling conditions, abortion, euthanasia, sterilization of the mentally disabled, infanticide, health care resources, and questions of competence, informed consent, and quality of life. There is no doubt that the debates in these difficult areas are of great importance, not only philosophically, but for the individuals whose lives are directly affected by them. However, bioethics is not the only arena for philosophical discussions about disability. There are many philosophical issues surrounding disability that are beyond the realm of bioethics. Philosophers have begun to explore disability in the context of phenomenology, political and social philosophy, theories of embodiment, and feminism. However, much of the current literature focuses either explicitly on physical disability, speaks more generally about "disability" without differentiating between physical and cognitive disabilities, or discusses cognitive disability in terms which do not reflect the problematic nature of the category itself. Thus, !•would like to focus specifically on cognitive disability (1) because, though it has been given almost exclusive philosophical attention within a medical-moral context, I think it raises many profound questions that go beyond bioethics. I will begin with a brief sketch of the ways cognitive disabilities have been treated within bioethical discourse, give a number of reasons for going beyond this approach, and conclude with some reflections on other philosophical areas where cognitive disability is relevant and important. Cognitive disability has been given particular attention in bioethics. Specifically biomedical questions include prenatal testing and genetic screening for cognitive disabilities, aborting fetuses with such conditions, and the sterilization of the mentally disabled. These issues are discussed from a wide variety of ethical perspectives, and additional questions are often raised regarding rights, consent, competence, and definitions of personhood (i.e., are these individuals persons, and how should we treat them?). There are also difficult legal issues which arise in the context of cognitive disabilities: wrongful birth suits (2), surrogacy battles (3), and cases of infanticide (4). Finally, the topic of cognitive disability and its association with eugenics has been raised in connection with the philosophical and political controversies around the Human Genome Project and advances in genetics (including gene therapy and genetic screening). There is a mosaic of biomedical and ethical
This chapter provides a series of philosophical meditations on the idea that music has the power ... more This chapter provides a series of philosophical meditations on the idea that music has the power to create sonic worlds that are beyond language, that wordlessness is not worldlessness. Taking Jan Zwicky’s concept of lyric philosophy and the “possibility of loss” as a starting point, it considers the relationship between disability, loss, and gain. It then examines the philosophical and musical significance of “wordlessness,” the “burden” of language, and the idea of silence as sound. Music can also create embodied, mutable worlds that are made of movements, gestures, and temporalities. To encounter these sonic worlds is to recognize mystery and the incalculable, as they point to something beyond what philosophy can define. These reflections are inspired by philosophers who have addressed the limits of language and the philosophical significance of music: Friedrich Nietzsche, Gabriel Marcel, Ludwig Wittgenstein, and Jan Zwicky.
... The Faces of Intellectual Disability: Philosophical Reflections. Bloomington: Indiana Univers... more ... The Faces of Intellectual Disability: Philosophical Reflections. Bloomington: Indiana University Press. Diamond, Cora. 1991. The Importance of Being Human. In Human Beings, edited by DavidCockburn, 3562. ... Hypatia 17, no. 3:11845. PubMed. Rafter, Nicole Hahn. 1988. ...
This essay explores the various ways that music is relevant to the lives of people with intellect... more This essay explores the various ways that music is relevant to the lives of people with intellectual disabilities. Moving beyond a therapeutic and medical model, musical experience can reveal certain dimensions of the self, establish ethical relationships, and promote new kinds of flourishing that, in turn, challenge dominant assumptions about the lives of people with intellectual disabilities. Taking music seriously also raises important critical questions for the field of Disability Studies regarding the marginalization of people with intellectual disabilities, the value of scientific and theoretical discourse, and the very meaning of “intellectual disability.”
Journal of Intellectual Disability Research, Apr 1, 2010
This article poses the question, 'Who is the expert?' in relation to people with intellectual dis... more This article poses the question, 'Who is the expert?' in relation to people with intellectual disabilities. It begins with an exploration of what it means to assert moral authority in relation to people with IDs, and makes the argument that 'experts' who draw moral boundaries, define conceptions of the 'good' and quality of life for people must consider how to occupy this position responsibly. It then considers a second form of authority-epistemic authority-and explores the moral responsibility that accompanies the practice of putting forth knowledge claims about ID. This involves acknowledging three potential problems: distancing, oppression and dehumanization. The article concludes with questions that point towards greater interdisciplinary dialogue regarding authority, responsibility and the role of the expert.
Hypatia: A Journal of Feminist Philosophy, Oct 1, 2001
Each copy of any part of a JSTOR transmission must contain the same copyright notice that appears... more Each copy of any part of a JSTOR transmission must contain the same copyright notice that appears on the screen or printed page of such transmission. JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range of content in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new forms of scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact
This essay explores various philosophical approaches to cognitive disability within feminist phil... more This essay explores various philosophical approaches to cognitive disability within feminist philosophy. In doing so, it addresses three broad questions: What positive contributions can feminist philosophy make to the philosophy of cognitive disability? How have feminist philosophers critiqued the presence and absence of cognitive disability in philosophy? And what challenges does cognitive disability pose to feminist philosophy itself? The essay begins with definitions and models of disability and then turns to feminist work on cognitive disability in moral and political philosophy, bioethics, and epistemology. It concludes with some methodological considerations.
See NIRMALA EREVELLES, DISABILITY AND DIFFERENCE IN GLOBAL CONTEXT, 147-171 (Palgrave MacMillan e... more See NIRMALA EREVELLES, DISABILITY AND DIFFERENCE IN GLOBAL CONTEXT, 147-171 (Palgrave MacMillan ed., 2011) ("forging a linkage between Critical Race Theory (CRT) and materialist disability studies."). See also CHRISTOPHER M. BELL, BLACKNESS AND DISABILITY: CRITICAL EXAMINATIONS AND CULTURAL INTERVENTIONS (2011) (providing additional examples). 5 I recognize that this is a broad term. The American Association on Intellectual and Developmental Disability defines intellectual disability as "a disability characterized by significant limitations in both intellectual functioning and in adaptive behavior, which covers many everyday social and practical skills. This disability originates before the age of 18." Definition of Intellectual Disability, AMERICAN ASSOCIATION ON INTELLECTUAL AND DEVELOPMENTAL DISABILITIES, http://aaidd.org/intellectualdisability/definition#.WOu2AmXufFI [https://perma.cc/TH25-LRFD]. However, the questions raised in this article can be asked of a broader range of disabilities that affect behavior and cognition. 6 Id. 7 IQ scores, for example, are not part of the AAIDD definition of intellectual disability, but are still part of some classifications in the DSM-V and employed in legal contexts. Id. 8 CARLSON, supra note 1, at 113.
Journal of Policy and Practice in Intellectual Disabilities, Jun 1, 2019
In this response to "The Quiet Progress of the New Eugenics," I explore the nature of the silence... more In this response to "The Quiet Progress of the New Eugenics," I explore the nature of the silences surrounding practices aimed at ending the lives of people with IDD. Taking as a point of departure philosopher Michel Foucault's claim that silence can be productive, and that it is intimately connected to various strategies and power relations that govern discourse, I ask: What silences and absences permeate these fields of inquiry, techniques, and technologies? Whose voices are heard and with what authority? And, how do the authors reveal and break these silences and make room for more voices? I begin by identifying the ways that the authors unmask the connections between these practices and the "old' eugenics and reveal the underlying assumption that the lives of people of IDD are of poor quality. I then explore three groups whose voices have been silenced or absent: people with IDD who can speak for themselves; people with IDD and other cognitive disabilities who are unable to speak for themselves; and those who are closely connected to people with IDD. I conclude by pointing to further questions and distinctions that are important to address when evaluating and responding to practices aimed at ending the lives of people with IDD.
In many ways, my interests in philosophy, music, and intellectual disability began in three-part ... more In many ways, my interests in philosophy, music, and intellectual disability began in three-part harmony. I became interested in the connections between philosophy and intellectual disability when, as an undergraduate, I would go from a volunteer job in a classroom for children labeled “multiply handicapped” to a seminar on the Platonic dialogues. I wondered what philosophers had to say about individuals who appeared to lack what they had defined as that most human quality—reason—and thus began my interest in the relationship between philosophy and disability. At the same time, my encounters with the children at the Rehabilitation School were musical ones. There were many students in the classroom where I worked who were incredibly musical, and being a musician myself, I was eager to share this world with them. In playing and listening to music together, in both traditional and very nontraditional ways, I forged an immediate connection with them: one grounded in a shared world, a mutual love for what many would call a distinctly human experience.
This article explores what it means to include intellectual disability (ID) in philosophical disc... more This article explores what it means to include intellectual disability (ID) in philosophical discourse and in the philosophy classroom. Taking Audre Lorde’s claim that “the master’s tools will never dismantle the master’s house” as a starting point, it asks how certain forms of cognitive ableism have excluded ID from the “philosopher’s house.” Drawing upon Michel Foucault’s work as a theoretical framework, part one critically examines the ways that ID has been included, excluded, and constructed within philosophical discourse. Part two then considers what it would mean for ID and people with an ID to be included in the philosophy classroom. It offers some examples of how the work in disability studies, philosophies of disability, and philosophy of art can lead to a more inclusive and transformative pedagogy that will generate new critical questions and expand our philosophical dwelling places.
This chapter presents a brief taxonomy of “others,” both human and nonhuman, that one encounters ... more This chapter presents a brief taxonomy of “others,” both human and nonhuman, that one encounters through music. Human others that populate the musical experience include performers and co-performers, audience members and listeners (or witnesses), composers, and conductors. Nonhuman others include musical instruments and the musical work itself. While the subsequent chapters explore the human relationships with and between performers and witnesses in far greater depth, this opening chapter spends some time addressing the significance of our connections to musical instruments, the ontological status of the musical work, and the presence and absence of the composer when we experience these musical works.
This chapter maps out connections between feminist and disability theories to bring into relief t... more This chapter maps out connections between feminist and disability theories to bring into relief the multiple ways that feminist philosophers are partaking in these conversations. It begins with a discussion of what is distinctive about feminist approaches to disability, while recognizing that there is not a single, univocal “feminist philosophy of disability.” It then turns to specific areas of philosophical inquiry in which feminist philosophers address disability, including ontological, epistemological, political, ethical, and bioethical considerations. The final section highlights a number of themes central to work in feminist philosophy and disability: embodiment, identity, intersectionality, and the generative and positive dimensions of disability. The chapter concludes by pointing to more recent directions in feminist philosophy of disability. These include disability aesthetics, explorations of disability in the context of technoscience and ecofeminism, and the problem of ableism in philosophy and the academy more broadly.
This chapter argues that musical encounters have the potential to change the configuration of rel... more This chapter argues that musical encounters have the potential to change the configuration of relationships, lessen the effects of stigma, and enlarge the moral imagination. It begins by exploring how the “musical we” is formed; what it means to share musical time, spaces, joy, and flourishing with others; how shared musical experience can transform and transpose relationships; and the nature and significance of musical presence. Building upon the discussion of intellectual disability in previous chapters, it argues that these forms of connection are particularly ethically significant in establishing and expanding relationships with and between individuals with intellectual disabilities. It concludes with a discussion of four specific virtues that can be cultivated both within and beyond the musical encounter: empathy, acknowledged dependence, humility, and solidarity.
This chapter introduces the book’s main argument: that shared musical experience has both epistem... more This chapter introduces the book’s main argument: that shared musical experience has both epistemological and ethical significance. It begins with three personal vignettes, and then explains why bringing music, philosophy, and disability together is original and important for philosophies of music and of disability. It goes on to define and discuss three central concepts—sonification, music, and disability—and examine parallels between music and disability. Before concluding with an overview of the chapters, it makes a number of clarifications regarding the approach: the argument is not intended to overly romanticize the significance of musical experience; second, the focus deliberately moves away from a therapeutic model of music and disability; and finally, that though disability is a central theme, the book’s arguments speak to the value of musical encounters more generally.
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