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After examining competing philosophical approaches to disability, this volume goes on to address such themes as the complex interplay between disability and quality of life, questions of social justice, and the personal dimensions of disability.

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This project draws together the diverse strands of the debate regarding disability in a way never before combined in a single volume. After providing a representative sampling of competing philosophical approaches to the conceptualization of disability as such, the volume goes on to address such themes as the complex interplay between disability and quality of life, questions of social justice as it relates to disability, and the personal dimensions of the disability experience.By explicitly locating the discussion of various applied ethical questions within the broader theoretical context of how disability is best conceptualized, the volume seeks to bridge the gap between abstract philosophical musings about the nature of disease, illness and disability found in much of the philosophy of medicine literature, on the one hand, and the comparatively concrete but less philosophical discourse frequently encountered in much of the disability studies literature. It also critically examines various claims advanced by disability advocates, as well as those of their critics.In bringing together leading scholars in the fields of moral theory, bioethics, and disability studies, this volume makes a unique contribution to the scholarly literature, while also offering a valuable resource to instructors and students interested in a text that critically examines and assesses various approaches to some of the most vexing problems in contemporary social and political philosophy.

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AcknowledgementsList of contributorsIntroduction1. Philosophical Reflections on Disability
D. Christopher Ralston & Justin HoPart I Concepts and Theories of Disability2. An Essay on Modeling: The Social Model of Disability
Anita Silvers
3. Ability, Competence, and Qualification: Fundamental Concepts in the Philosophy of Disability
Lennart Nordenfelt
4. Disability and Medical Theory
Christopher BoorsePart II Disability, Quality of Life, and Bioethics5. Utilitarianism, Disability, and Society
Torbjörn Tännsjö
6. Too Late to Matter? Preventing the Birth of Infants at Risk for Adult-Onset Disease or Disability
Laura M. Purdy
7. To Fail to Enhance is to Disable
Muireann Quigley & John Harris
8. Disability and Human Flourishing
Garrett MerriamPart III Disability, Social Justice, and Public Policy9. Equal Treatment for Disabled Persons: The Case of Organ Transplantation
Robert M. Veatch
10. Disability Rights: Do We Really Mean It?
Ron Amundson
11. Dignity, Disability, Difference, and Rights
Daniel P. Sulmasy
12. Public Policy and Personal Aspects of Disability
Patricia M. Owens & Eric J. Cassell
13. Disability and Social Justice
Christopher Tollefsen
14. The Unfair and the Unfortunate: Some Brief Critical Reflections on Secular Moral Claim Rights for the Disabled
H. Tristram Engelhardt, Jr.Part IV Personal Voices15. Neither Victims nor Heroes: Reflections from a Polio Person
Jean B. Elshtain Index

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