On Moral Status and Intellectual Disability

Abstract

This chapter examines conceptual, methodological, and epistemological questions in debates about the moral status of people with intellectual disabilities. It begins with a call for conceptual clarity and specificity when philosophizing about intellectual disability. The chapter then goes on to address the many references to nonhuman animals in discussions of intellectual disability and moral status. It considers what is at stake in drawing such comparisons and whether such arguments contribute to the dehumanization of people with intellectual disabilities. It concludes with an exploration of how critical, reparative, and generative philosophies of intellectual disability can move beyond current approaches to moral status.