The Stick, the Eye, and Ownership of the Body

Abstract

It is a tradition in some countries that blind people use a white stick. The white stick is not only a useful instrument for spatial orientation but it has also symbolic meaning. If you see a white stick you know that there is somebody who is physically handicapped. Someone who robbed a blind man of his stick would certainly be viewed as a moral monster. We would condemn his act not only because the stick was the blind man’s property or because it would expose him to unnecessary suffering. Our reaction to stealing the stick from a blind person is so strong because we perceive the stick as an integral part of the blind person and his world. The stick defines him and his situation in the world. Robbing the blind man of his stick forces a partial disintegration of his self and the world around him.KeywordsLiving BodyDead BodyBlind PersonCartesian DualismDonor CardThese keywords were added by machine and not by the authors. This process is experimental and the keywords may be updated as the learning algorithm improves.