Disability and American Philosophies

Nate Whelan-Jackson is an Associate Professor in the Religion & Philosophy Department at Capital University in Columbus, OH. His research concerns the intersection of classical American pragmatism and philosophy of disability.

Daniel J. Brunson is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Philosophy & Religious Studies at Morgan State University in Baltimore, MD. His research focuses on the history of classical American pragmatism, philosophy of technology, and social epistemology.

Given basic commitments to philosophize from lived experience and a shared underlying meliorist impulse, American philosophical traditions seem well-suited to develop nascent philosophical engagement with disability studies. To date, however, there have been few efforts to facilitate research at the intersections of American philosophy and disability studies. This volume of essays seeks to offer some directions for propelling this inquiry. Scholars working in pragmatist and other American traditions consider intersections between American philosophy and work in disability studies. Consisting of three broader sections, one set of essays considers how American philosophies from contemporary Mexican philosophy to classical American pragmatism inform descriptions of disability and efforts at liberation. The next offer accounts of how American philosophies disclose alternative conceptions of epistemic and ethical issues surrounding disability. Finally, a section considers "living issues" of disability, including essays on parenting, immigration policy, and art education. Throughout, these works provide direction and orientation for further investigation at the intersection of American philosophies and disability studies.

This collection of essays from scholars working in pragmatist and other American traditions considers intersections between American philosophy and work in disability studies.

Introduction: Disability and American Philosophies

Nate Whelan-Jackson & Daniel J. Brunson

1. Collective Inferiority Complex as Disability: Samuel Ramos' Analysis of the Mexican Psyche

Sergio Gallegos

2. Deweyan Tools for Disability Studies: Methodological Pluralism and Melioration of Suffering

Justin Bell

3. Pragmatic Individualism and the (Re)Production of Disability

Nate Whelan-Jackson

4. Pragmatism and Neurodiversity

Daniel J. Brunson

5. Lost (And Lonely) in Translation: Dyslexia and Epistemic Loneliness

Kara Barnette

6. Just Like an Animal: Cognitively Disabled Humans and the Argument from Marginal Cases

Todd Lekan

7. The Art of Interdependence: Autonomy, Heteronomy, and Social Support in Shannon Jackson's Criticism of Contemporary Art Social Practices

John Giordano

8. Dewey on Disability and Epistemic Virtue

Sarah Woolwine

9. Gloria E. Anzaldúa and Crip Futurity in the Americas

Andrea Pitts

10. The Right to Heal: Politics, Civil Rights, and the Need for New Ethical Concepts Regarding Regenerative Medical Care in Orthopedics

Tommy Curry

11. Stoic Pragmatism for Parenting a Child with Disabilities: An Essay Addressing Philosophers, Parents, Teachers, and Educational Policymakers

Eric T. Weber