[.ca] The Future of the Disabled in Liberal Society: An ... (ISBN 0268028575)

a not politically-correct analysis:
Dutch professor of Philosophy's Hans Reinders' analysis is refreshing in a subject area, i.e. disability, where too often post-modernism is accepted as a workable context where the main aim is to achieve rights and choices for people with disabilities. Reinders shows how liberal society (and yes he discusses what that is)is limited in achieving advances for people with developmental disability because of its lack of a deep framework of morality. He shows this group as one that is particularly under threat from developments in genetics. As Reinders convincingly argues the difficulties for liberal society in safeguarding this vulnerable group are severely curtailed by its inability to resolve the inherent paradox between prevention of conditions seen as suffering and inclusion of people with disabilities as per Wolfensberger's normalisation and social role valorization theories. Where individual people make up their own meanings for their lives how do people without the ability to do so fare? They get devalued with risks of attendant negative implications, notably in developments in genetics. Reinders suggests that society is in need of a deep morality which may be found in the experiences and beliefs of caring families who have members with developmental disability. He uses Kenzaburo Oe's novel "A personal matter" with great impact in arguing for the inherent value of the lives of people with developmental disability, realised when we do dive deep into our own prejudices, preconceptions and fears. Reinders arguments fit well with Alasdair MacIntyre's (Dependent Rational Animals) conception of the nature of the human condition as consisting of acknowledged dependency and vulnerability in balance with autonomy for the flourishing of people to occur. Read Reinders and MacIntyre against the background of David Loye's myth-breaking "Darwin's lost theory of love" and you may strengthen your hopes about a more human/planet sustaining paradigm rising through the surface of our present day postmodern soup. Reinders is not an easy read but his book, rich in its challenges to dominant asocietal assumptions, deserves to be widely read, in and outside of the disability area of interest. His arguments are clear, his language crisp. His is an important contribution to a quest for moral coherency in our confused times. As Reinders cleverly uses the lenses of genetics and developmental disability, inescapably the reader comes to the conclusion that what is true for vulnerable people with developmental disabilities is true for all of us. This book should feature in the required reading lists for disability- ,human service and ethical/philosophy studies. Highly recommended.