Disability, Wellbeing, and [In]Apt Emotions

Howard D. (2018) Disability, Well-Being, and (In)Apt Emotions. In: Flanigan J., Price T. (eds) The Ethics of Ability and Enhancement. Jepson Studies in Leadership. Palgrave Macmillan, New York.

In this chapter, I explore whether some emotional responses toward disabled, which are stigmatizing and potentially unwarranted, assume a controversial understanding of disability. Certain conceptions of disability express or reinforce harmful stereotypes of disabled people, cause mistreatment, and make people with disabilities feel isolated or misunderstood. I then discusses whether these considerations are the wrong kinds of reasons to inform a conception of disability. In response, I argue that these considerations should inform our conceptions of disability, not because certain attitudes toward disability have bad consequences but because they misrepresent disabled people’s lived experiences.