Disability, Difference, Discrimination: Perspectives on Justice in Bioethics and Public Policy (Point/Counterpoint: Philosophers Debate Contemporary Issues) [Paperback]

Anita Silvers (Author), David Wasserman (Author), Mary B. Mahowald (Author), Lawrence C. Becker (Foreword)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 14, 1999 | ISBN-10: 084769223X | ISBN-13: 978-0847692231

How should we respond to individuals with disabilities? What does it mean to be disabled, and is a disabled person necessarily less independent and less competent than a person who is not disabled? Is a life with a disability a life worth living? In this compelling book, three experts on disability issues, ethics, and the law address several pressing issues in bioethics, including the prospect of genetic discrimination, heroic treatment of seriously impaired neonates, and whether severely impaired competent individuals should be permitted or assisted to die. Anita Silvers, David Wasserman, and Mary Mahowald bring important philosophical theories to bear on subjects of concern in a wide variety of disciplines dealing with disability, and they do so in the context of the groundbreaking Americans With Disabilities Act. Disability, Difference, Discrimination will be of great interest to the legal, philosophical, and medical communities engaged in ongoing debates about the disabled.

Editorial Reviews

Review

This is an excellent collection of essays on a topic relatively negleted by social ethicists. (Ethics )

Breaks open the door that has kept out concerns of disability from the discipline of philosophy. The major importance of this volume lies in the questions its essays raise--in the forceful, insightful, and provocative issues they present, and in their clear demonstration that these questions belong at the center of philosophical inquiry. (Hypatia )

What the authors of Disability, Difference, Discrimination have given me is not only the theoretical tools to explain to myself what is wrong about this state of affairs, but also many practical suggestions for helping me be less of an 'ableist.' I am confident that it has similar gifts to offer any reader, with or without disabilities. This is a book worth re-reading in a society that routinely produces books not worth reading at all. (Tong, Rosemarie Social Theory and Practice )

About the Author

Anita Silvers is professor of philosophy at San Francisco State University. David Wasserman is a research scholar at the Institute for Philosophy and Public Policy, University of Maryland. Mary B. Mahowald is professor at the Pritzker School of Medicine, University of Chicago. Lawrence C. Becker is the William R. Kenan, Jr. professor in the humanities (philosophy) at The College of William and Mary.

Product Details

• Paperback: 352 pages
• Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers (January 14, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 084769223X
• ISBN-13: 978-0847692231
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 5.8 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 15.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,352,078 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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