ABSTRACT
Autonomy and the capacity to communicate are related to the capacities required of human beings who have the political, social and economic rights associated with citizenship. It is not only science and technology that contribute to an understanding of human capacity. Performing artists and musicians can make a contribution, encouraging profoundly disabled people to do something quintessentially human – laughing, for example, or playing music. The oppression and subordination of people with disabilities is a prominent subject for writers and activists. There is a large question about the role of persons with profound impairments in any theory of justice that assumes a contract between subjects who are parties to reciprocal moral and political relations. Reflection on profound and multiple learning difficulties and disabilities raises questions in applied ethics, political philosophy, philosophy of mind and metaphysics.
