Beast or God: Philosophical Exclusion of Disability and Disabled Voices

In philosophy, our goal is to ultimately discover what it is to be human. How do we exist in our world, and how should we exist? Throughout history, philosophers have been attempting to answer these questions in any way possible. Well, almost. Unfortunately, marginalized voices -- such as those with disabilities -- have been excluded from the conversation in a way that minimizes and undermines any answers provided. Philosophers such as Descartes make the argument that human existence is purely in the mind, and that we can separate ourselves from our bodies; many disabled philosophers would disagree. Disability studies finds that our body has just as much of an influence on our cognition as our brain (sometimes even more so); to separate ourselves from our bodies would be to fundamentally change our existence. We would not exist in the same capacity. But, because disabled voices have been excluded from philosophical literature and discussions, the canon currently has no choice but to follow the Socratic, Platonic, Aristotelian, and Cartesian ways of thinking: our bodies are mere instruments for our being and morality. In my thesis, I examine the ways in which ableism have influenced our philosophical thinking and how we as philosophers can attempt to include disabled voices in philosophy going forward