Recognizing Justice for Citizens with Cognitive Disabilities

By (author) Kacey Brooke Warren

Publication date:

30 January 2015

Length of book:

212 pages

Publisher

Lexington Books

ISBN-13: 9780739180075

Although undeniably subject to the coercive political institutions of a liberal state, citizens with cognitive disabilities have frequently and without justification been denied political equality and political liberty. Rather than opposing this treatment, philosophers have tacitly condoned it, often by silence, and other times by explicitly neglecting the concerns for justice that these citizens have. In Recognizing Justice for Citizens with Cognitive Disabilities, Kacey Brooke Warren searches for a theory of justice that can adequately address these concerns. Students and scholars of philosophy, political theory, and disability studies will benefit from Warren’s discussion of four of the most influential contemporary theories of justice and her analysis of which of the four is most promising for extending political equality and political liberty to citizens with cognitive disabilities.
This book, Warren’s first, is an excellent addition to the growing body of work on philosophical concerns as they relate to persons with cognitive disabilities. The book comprises three parts: 'Liberalism and Cognitive Disability,' 'Four Approaches to Justice for Citizens with Cognitive Disabilities,' and 'Recognizing Justice for Citizens with Cognitive Disabilities.' In the first part, Warren discusses standards and criteria for any liberal theory of justice—e.g., workable conceptions of social-political equality, including equal rights and consideration. She also enunciates various conceptions of disability, disentangling notions of disability and impairment, along with medical and social models of each. In part 2, she examines contemporary, influential approaches to these broad concerns—work by John Rawls, Martha Nussbaum, Eva Feder Kittay, and Axel Honneth. Warren provides respectful assessments of their work, acknowledging what is valuable in each while offering an even-handed critique. In the final part, she offers a brief, suggestive statement identifying paths and criteria for promoting greater meaningful practice for citizens with cognitive disabilities. Warren’s book is thoughtful, careful, thorough, and fair. Summing Up: Recommended. Upper-division undergraduates through faculty and professionals.