ABSTRACT
This chapter discusses some basic aspects of the utili tar-an approach to the distribution of resources between disabled people and nondisabled people, and among people with different disabilities. It draws on some contrasts between utilitarianism and egalitarian approaches. Utilitarianism seeks to maximize welfare. The first-order distributive principle of utilitarianism is to distribute resources to the people who would most benefit from those resources, "benefit" being understood here as an increase in welfare. In the distribution of resources between the disabled and the nondisabled, the most important utilitarian consideration is the amelioration of disability. If resources can be used to cure or ameliorate disability, the disabled may gain a large amount of welfare from those resources. Some disabled people and advocates for the disabled believe that disability does not in itself reduce welfare; they maintain society's treatment of the disabled is what reduces their welfare. Utilitarianism can accommodate this view to some extent.
