Dear Fabulous FEASTers,

Happy New Year!

I would be delighted to share a copy of my recent paper "Duties of
Justice to Citizens with Cognitive Disabilities."  It was published in
the 2009 special issue of Metaphilosophy on "Cognitive Disability and
its Challenge to Moral Philosophy," edited by Eva Kittay and Licia
Carlson, and may be of interest to those of you teaching graduate
seminars in political philosophy or disability studies.  I'm
particularly chuffed because I managed to get photos included in this
article, which is a rare occurrence in philosophy journals.
http://www3.interscience.wiley.com/journal/122603154/issue

Citation: Wong, Sophia Isako.  "Duties of Justice to Citizens with
Cognitive Disabilities." Metaphilosophy, 40:3-4 (2009), 382-401.

Abstract:
Many social practices treat citizens with cognitive disabilities
differently from their nondisabled peers. Does John Rawls's theory of
justice imply that we have different duties of justice to citizens
whenever they are labeled with cognitive disabilities? Some theorists
have claimed that the needs of the cognitively disabled do not raise
issues of justice for Rawls. I claim that it is premature to reject
Rawlsian contractualism. Rawlsians should regard all citizens as moral
persons provided they have the potential for developing the two moral
powers. I claim that every citizen requires specific Enabling
Conditions to develop and exercise the two moral powers. Structuring
basic social institutions to deny some citizens the Enabling
Conditions is unjust because it blocks their developmental pathways
toward becoming fully cooperating members of society. Hence, we have a
duty of justice to provide citizens labeled with cognitive
disabilities with the Enabling Conditions they require until they
become fully cooperating members of society.

Please e-mail me at [log in to unmask] if you would like me to
send you a PDF file of this paper.

Best wishes,
Sophia

Sophia Wong, Ph.D.
Associate Professor (untenured)
Department of Philosophy
Long Island University, Brooklyn Campus
www.sophiawong.info