Valorizing dependence: inclusion of the disabled in theories of justice

Abstract

Here I argue that dependence is the proper starting point for thinking about political personhood and justice. In pursuit of this idea, I examine three moments of the political that exemplify the connection shared, and supported, by persons by dint of being in society. These moments are dignity, care, and cooperation. I unpack the connection to dependence that everyone shares: the notion of dignity depends on others to make any sense at all; care is a ubiquitous fact of human existence, from infancy through to old age; the idea that cooperation is merely synonymous with “economic production” is flawed since a society is inherently relational, and other kinds of social product depend on a cooperation of a different sort. Given the idea that dependence is the shared characteristic of personhood sine qua non, I believe that we can ask more valuable questions, within which the interests and lives of the disabled are considered important and inextricably joined with the rest of the citizens in a just society.