Assignment for Tuesday, Oct. 17
I was only able to give a brief sketch of an idea in class, and often a brief sketch raises resistance to a thing rather than making it more plausible. But it's important, and unlikely to come up much again, so I want to just try to be calm and clear about it.
The idea is that "disability" is not a purely natural thing, it's also, largely, a social thing. Being blind or very short or unable to walk or, whatever, is a condition. Whether we construct a world that makes it easier or harder for people with that condition to function is a social, collective, commitment. "Disability" is a word that describes a gap between what someone is able to do and some conception of "normal functioning." We have a lot more control over the size and shape of that gap than we think. I can imagine a world set up so that blind people or deaf people could navigate and function with no trouble at all. We would have to commit to that. Consider this, too: if you levitated a few feet off the ground, without the ability to get closer than a few feet to the ground, we would probably consider that a sort or miraculous superpower. But if you tried to actually function in our world, you'd find it very very difficult. It would count as a disability. We could eventually make it easier for you, perhaps with railings and guide ropes you could reach, pull yourself along by, etc. We'd be making the gap between your condition and "being able" smaller. This is worth thinking on.
OK, for Tuesday, carefully read 17-40 in The Politics of Reality.
The idea is that "disability" is not a purely natural thing, it's also, largely, a social thing. Being blind or very short or unable to walk or, whatever, is a condition. Whether we construct a world that makes it easier or harder for people with that condition to function is a social, collective, commitment. "Disability" is a word that describes a gap between what someone is able to do and some conception of "normal functioning." We have a lot more control over the size and shape of that gap than we think. I can imagine a world set up so that blind people or deaf people could navigate and function with no trouble at all. We would have to commit to that. Consider this, too: if you levitated a few feet off the ground, without the ability to get closer than a few feet to the ground, we would probably consider that a sort or miraculous superpower. But if you tried to actually function in our world, you'd find it very very difficult. It would count as a disability. We could eventually make it easier for you, perhaps with railings and guide ropes you could reach, pull yourself along by, etc. We'd be making the gap between your condition and "being able" smaller. This is worth thinking on.
OK, for Tuesday, carefully read 17-40 in The Politics of Reality.
Comments
Post a Comment