The Future of the Disabled in Liberal Society: An Ethical Analysis / Edition 1

by Hans S. Reinders

Overview

The Future of the Disabled in Liberal Society questions developments in human genetic research from the perspective of persons with mental disabilities and their families. Hans S. Reinders argues that when we use terms such as “disease” and “defect” to describe conditions that genetic engineering might well eliminate, we may also be assuming that disabled lives are deplorable and horrific. Reinders points out that the possibility of preventing disabled lives is at odds with our commitment to the full inclusion of disabled citizens in society. The tension between these different perspectives is of concern to all of us as genetic testing procedures proliferate. Reinders warns that preventative uses of human genetics might even become a threat to the social security and welfare benefits that help support disabled persons and their families. Reinders also argues that this conflict cannot be resolved or controlled on the level of public morality. Because a liberal society makes a commitment to individual freedom and choice, its members can consider the diagnostic and therapeutic uses of human genetics as options available to individual citizens. A liberal society will defend reproductive freedom as a matter of principle. Citizens may select their offspring in accord with their own personal values. Reinders concludes that the future of the mentally disabled in liberal society will depend on the strength of our moral convictions about the value of human life, rather than on the protective force of liberal morality. One of the most important aspects of this book is Reinder’s attention to parents who have come to see the task of raising a disabled child as an enriching experience. These are people who change their conceptions of success and control and, therefore, their conceptions of themselves. They come to value their disabled children for what they have to give. Even though disabled children and disabled adults present parents and society with real challenges, the rewards are just as real. This powerful critique of contemporary bioethics is sure to become required reading for those interested in human development, special education, ethics, philosophy, and theology.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780268028572
Publisher:	University of Notre Dame Press
Publication date:	08/15/2000
Series:	Revisions: A Series of Books on Ethics
Edition description:	1
Pages:	294
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x 0.66(d)

About the Author

Hans S. Reinders is Willem van den Bergh Professor of Ethics and Mental Disability at the Vrije Universiteit in Amsterdam.

Table of Contents

	Preface	ix
1.	Introduction	1
1.1	A Paradigmatic Shift	1
1.2	Widening the Scope of the Debate	4
1.3	Widening the Scope of the Debate II	9
1.4	The Argument	12
Part 1
2.	The 'Liberal Convention'	21
2.1	The Context of the Debate	21
2.2	The 'Liberal Convention'	22
2.3	Implications of Starting with the 'Liberal Convention'	24
2.4	Morality among Strangers	26
2.5	Instrumentalism, Formalism, or Conventionalism?	30
2.6	Beyond a Narrow Conception of Morality	35
3.	Genetics and Prevention in Public Morality	37
3.1	Initial Distinctions	37
3.2	'Morally Permissible' and 'Morally Required'	39
3.3	Preventing Conception and Preventing Birth	40
3.4	'Impairment', 'Disability', and 'Handicap'	42
3.5	'Disease' and 'Disability'	44
3.6	'We' as Individuals and 'We' as a Political Community	46
3.7	Two Questions	49
4.	"The Condition, Not the Person"	51
4.1	The Charge of Negative Evaluation	51
4.2	The DPC Argument	53
4.3	Actual and Future People	56
4.4	Evaluating Other People's Lives	57
4.5	Disability and Identity	59
4.6	The Fallacy of Geneticization	61
4.7	What Are Clinical Geneticists Doing?	63
5.	Disability, Prevention, and Discrimination	66
5.1	Negative Side Effects?	67
5.2	Two Types of Reasons	68
5.3	Discrimination and Exclusion	70
5.4	Discrimination and the Value of Life	73
5.5	The Social Position of the Disabled	75
5.6	The Future of Disability	78
5.7	No World without Disabled People	81
6.	Restrictions on Reproductive Choice?	84
6.1	'Free Choice' in Human Reproduction	84
6.2	Restriction of Reproductive Freedom?	86
6.3	The Charge of Discriminatory Attitudes	91
6.4	Restrictive Policies against Selective Abortion	94
6.5	Restrictive Policies to Control Genetic Testing	96
6.6	Degrees of Seriousness?	99
6.7	The Weakness of the Liberal Convention	101
Part 2
7.	The Inclusion of the Mentally Disabled	105
7.1	The Moral Standing of Disabled People	105
7.2	Persons in the Social Sense	108
7.3	Justice and Beneficence	109
7.4	Recipients of Justice	113
7.5	Public Morality as Overlapping Consensus	116
7.6	The Parasitic Nature of Liberal Morality	118
8.	Imperatives of the Self	122
8.1	Two Claims	122
8.2	Kenzaburo Oe: A Personal Matter	125
8.3	An Inward Voyage	127
8.4	Himiko's Theory	130
8.5	Constancy and Truthfulness	132
8.6	Accountability as Self-Narration	135
9.	Responsibility for Dependent Others	139
9.1	On Accepting Responsibility	139
9.2	'The Ethical Demand'	142
9.3	Social Norms and Moral Judgment	143
9.4	'Life as a Gift'	146
9.5	Convention and Commitment	148
9.6	Appropriate Motivations	153
Part 3
10.	The Presumption of Suffering	159
10.1	A Remaining Question	159
10.2	Reasons Regarding Quality of Life	162
10.3	Ways of Suffering	164
10.4	Enrichment? In What Way?	166
10.5	Identification, Not Resignation	171
11.	The Transformation Experience	175
11.1	Incoherent Views?	176
11.2	Two Different Perspectives	177
11.3	A Capacity for Alienation	180
11.4	"From Devastation to Transformation"	183
11.5	Transformation and the Power to Respond	187
12.	The Meaning of Life in Liberal Society	193
12.1	Discovered or Made?	193
12.2	Some Conceptual Clarifications	194
12.3	Bricoleurs Rather Than Engineers	197
12.4	Culture as a 'Context of Choice'	198
12.5	The Redundancy of Choice	200
12.6	Caring for the Disabled in Liberal Society	203
12.7	Conclusion	206
	Notes	209
	Bibliography	259
	Index	271

Editorial Reviews

"In The Future of the Disabled in Liberal Society, [Reinders] subtly explores how genetic-testing technologies—ones that are already widely used and others that are just around the corner—adversely affect the standing of the disabled in liberal states. A professor of ethics, Reinders has written an intellectually challenging work of philosophy and social policy. . . . [He] has done a great service by demonstrating how even a seemingly benign aspect of the high-tech revolution, genetic testing, will have unintended consequences none of us can greet with equanimity.” —Policy Review

“[T]he book as a whole will offer to advanced undergraduates an engaging and challenging introduction to some of the most influential ethical thinkers of our time. Very highly recommended....” —Choice

“[A] sophisticated and welcome contribution to what the author calls the continuing debate concerning the strengths and weaknesses of liberal morality that dominates contemporary society. This is a sobering book.” —Commonweal

“[A] well-reasoned examination...." —Theological Studies

“By demonstration the inherent paradoxes in liberal approaches to the disabled, [Reinders] effectively reveals potential policy limitations that may threaten the social services available to the mentally disabled.” —Religious Studies Review

“...this book provides a rich resource for understanding thinking in contemporary secular bioethics.... Reinders's work greatly helps one to understand the reasoning and application of liberal secular philosophy and details its shortcomings.” —The National Catholic Bioethics Quarterly

“... an intellectually challenging work of philosophy and social policy. Reinders . . . has done a great service by demonstrating how even a seemingly benign aspect of the high-tech revolution, genectic testing, will have unintended consequences none of us can greet with equanimity.” —Policy Review

From the Publisher

"In The Future of the Disabled in Liberal Society, [Reinders] subtly explores how genetic—testing technologies—ones that are already widely used and others that are just around the corner-adversely affect the standing of the disabled in liberal states. A professor of ethics, Reinders has written an intellectually challenging work of philosophy and social policy. . . . [He] has done a great service by demonstrating how even a seemingly benign aspect of the high-tech revolution, genetic testing, will have unintended consequences none of us can greet with equanimity.” Policy Review

Policy Review

Questioning developments in human genetic research from the perspective of people with mental disabilities and their families, Reinders (ethics and mental disability, Vrije U., Amsterdam) argues that using terms such as disease and defect to describe conditions that genetic engineering might eliminate, may also be suggesting that disabled lives are deplorable and horrific. Focusing too narrowly on preventing disabled lives, he warns, is at odds with a commitment to including disabled people fully in society. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

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