Minority Body: A Theory of Disability

Disability is primarily a social phenomenon, but many philosophers view it with skepticism and scorn. This book aims to articulate and defend a version of the view of disability that is common in the Disability Rights movement, which states that to be physically disabled is not to have a defective body, but simply to have a minority body.

Format: Paperback / softback
Length: 224 pages
Publication date: 08 November 2018
Publisher: Oxford University Press

Elizabeth Barnes argues compellingly that disability is primarily a social phenomenon—a way of being a minority, a way of facing social oppression, but not a way of being inherently or intrinsically worse off. This is how disability is understood in the Disability Rights and Disability Pride movements; but there is a massive disconnect with the way disability is typically viewed within analytic philosophy. The idea that disability is not inherently bad or sub-optimal is one that many philosophers treat with open skepticism, and sometimes even with scorn. The goal of this book is to articulate and defend a version of the view of disability that is common in the Disability Rights movement. Elizabeth Barnes argues that to be physically disabled is not to have a defective body, but simply to have a minority body.

Weight: 280g
Dimension: 139 x 214 x 14 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9780198822417