Disability and vulnerability — impediments or possibilities? A Hypothesis from the scope of social Christian ethics

Abstract

The visible condition of a person in bodily pain or of a person who has lost autonomy, social status or self–representation, reveals to some degree an invisible reality which is present in every human being. Assuming the validity of this premise, my primary purpose in the following paper is first to reflect upon social and cultural attitudes that consider disability and vulnerability as a boundary and a threat; and secondly, to propose an alternative in transgressing the differences of socio - anthropological boundaries in order to enable dynamic communication with fellow human beings, and ultimately, to bring about the true human flourishing. The structure of my argument is threefold. In a first part my focus is stressed upon concerns of those living with a physical condition of disability and a mainstream socio–cultural attitudes towards it. In the second part, my attention will be on the meaning of vulnerability associated with, but distinct from the notion of disability. Thirdly, I will elucidate my argument with concrete examples from the L´Arche community - where people with and without disabilities are living together in mutual interdependency and cooperation.