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No Mere Difference

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 July 2017

DAVID DeVIDI  and
CATHERINE KLAUSEN
DAVID DeVIDI*
Affiliation:
University of Waterloo
CATHERINE KLAUSEN
Affiliation:
University of Waterloo
*
*<david.devidi@gmail.com>
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Abstract

In this paper, we consider the ‘mere-difference’ view of disability, a popular strategy amongst disability theorists and advocates. This view is nicely summarized by Elizabeth Barnes, who claims that disability is “a natural part of human diversity [and] something that should be celebrated” instead of something to be pitied or cured (2014). We find Barnes’s defence of the view problematic, argue that there are significant philosophical problems with the mere-difference view if it is intended as an accurate account of disability, and suggest that there are worrisome consequences if it is used as a politically strategic overstatement.

L’objectif de cet article est d’interroger la conception de l’invalidité comme «simple différence», une stratégie populaire parmi les théoriciens de l’invalidité et les porte-paroles des personnes handicapées. Elizabeth Barnes résume bien cette conception de l’invalidité : elle prétend que celle-ci constitue «une part naturelle de la diversité humaine [et] quelque chose qui doit être célébré», et non pas pris en pitié ou encore guéri (2014). La défense de Barnes est problématique; nous montrerons que cette position pose d’importants problèmes philosophiques si l’on entend la considérer comme une description juste de l’invalidité. De plus, les effets de cette conception sont inquiétants si on l’exagère de façon stratégique pour des raisons politiques.

Keywords

mere-differencedisabilityadvocacydiversityjustice
Type
Articles
Information
Dialogue: Canadian Philosophical Review / Revue canadienne de philosophie , Volume 56 , Issue 2 , June 2017 , pp. 357 - 379
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Copyright
Copyright © Canadian Philosophical Association 2017 

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