Description
Book SynopsisThrough personal narrative and philosophical argumentation, Eva Feder Kittay relates how raising a multiply-disabled daughter has altered her views on what matters and gives meaning in life. She explores such difficult topics as the desire for normalcy, reproductive technology's promise that we can choose our children, the importance of care, and the need for an ethic of care.
Trade ReviewKittay provides an excellent read in disability theory and philosophy and offers clarity and persistence in addressing very tough questions. * Jana M. Bennett, University of Dayton, The National Catholic Bioethics Quarterly *
Learning From My Daughter has much to recommend it. Kittay is, as always, incisive, and Learning From My Daughter is both eloquently argued and replete with hard-won insight. It ought to attract a wide readership both within and beyond the academy. * The Philosophical Quarterly *
Eva Feder Kittay's is a thought-provoking book on humility, choosing children, and the place of care in philosophy and disability. It recently [2020] won the prestigious PROSE Award for Philosophy. This book deserves a wide readership both in and beyond philosophy...it will constitute a significant resource for philosophers of disability and philosophers more generally. * Robert A. Wilson, University of Western Australia, Notre Dame Philosophical Reviews *
Eva Feder Kittay's Learning from My Daughter is, in my view, her best work to date. As I read, I felt I was being guided through a varied terrain — some of it familiar, some unfamiliar — by someone who is much wiser than I am. Kittay's experience — of loving and caring for both a daughter with severe cognitive and physical disabilities and a son who is not disabled motivates and informs the book in crucial ways, while her philosophical mastery allows her to think through and convey with clarity the insights that this experience yields. * Lisa Tessman, APA Feminism and Philosophy Newsletter *
Very few philosophers since Plato have thought about disability so productively and generatively as has Eva Kittay. And very few scholars of disability have so enriched the study of philosophy as has Eva Kittay. Learning from My Daughter is a remarkable book, one that I know I will return to again and again in my intellectual journeys. It should be required reading for anyone who wants to think seriously about what makes us human. * Michael Bérubé, Edwin Erle Sparks Professor of Literature, Pennsylvania State University *
Eva Kittay's work on disability is at once both philosophically astute and deeply moving. She writes with the skill of a careful thinker and the passion of a mother, and her perspective on disability is invaluable. * Elizabeth Barnes, Professor of Philosophy, University of Virginia *
The advent of a new book from Eva Kittay fills me with gratitude and excitement: the clarity of her thinking and the wisdom of her heart mean that these arguments will be welcomed, puzzled over, disputed with, and treasured for many years to come. * Tom Shakespeare, Professor of Disability Research, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine *
Table of ContentsForeword by Susan J. Brison Author's Preface And Acknowlements Part I: Learning to Become a Humbler Philosopher Chapter One: On What Matters/Not Chapter Two: The New Normal and a Good Life Part II: Learning to Think About Choosing Children and The Limits of Planning Chapter Three: The Limits of Choice Chapter Four: The Ethics of Prenatal Testing and Selection Chapter Five: How Not to Argue for Selective Reproductive Procedures Part III: Care in Philosophy, Disability and Ethics Chapter Six: Dependency and Disability Chapter Seven: An Ethics of Care Chapter Eight: The Completion of Care: The Normativity of Care Chapter Nine: Forever Small: The Strange Case of Ashley X Bibliography
