Dignity and the inevitable vulnerability we all share: these two poles anchor this brief philosophical inquiry.
Maria Zanichelli, a philosophy of law researcher at the University of Parma, guides us through roughly 80 pages of reflection.
She begins by examining several philosophical theories—among the few to have seriously grappled with what it means to be disabled, and with the moral questions, demands for justice, and questions of meaning that disability raises.
Aware that no general theory can capture the lived reality of millions of people, Zanichelli approaches her subject with humility and genuine engagement, weaving in powerful testimony from those who have experienced disability themselves or walked alongside someone who has.
Her aim: to "shed light on the profound meaning of a human reality that is both difficult and mysterious, yet profoundly concrete—one that resists rhetoric, apologies, and ideological posturing." A thoughtful and extensive bibliography completes this slim but vital volume.
Cristina Tersigni, 2013