Understanding (dis)abilities: considerations on the body and the ethical consequences involved-Undicobatec

“Nothing in life is to be feared, it is only to be understood. Now is the time to understand more, so that we may fear less”.

This famous quotation attributed to the scientist Maria Skłodowska-Curie emphasises the importance of «understanding» the realities of life and of understanding them «more and more», and we would add «better and better». In this sense, fear is contrary to science. It hinders its good development and its correct expansion.

Regarding human relationships, fear is equally contrary to ethics, because it creates moral attitudes which are usually contrary to the values of respect, integration and inclusion promoted by the different Declarations and Charters of fundamental human rights (the WHO, Europe, Switzerland...).

Discrimination, indifference and unfortunately maybe abuse are usually the results of fear and of the misunderstanding of a situation or a condition. Those are the barriers which disabled people have to face, particularly those who have several disabilities.

That is the reason why the project «Understanding (dis)abilities», together with the different European policies and strategies implemented in favour of people with disability, wants to reflect on abilities rather than on disabilities.

In order to do that, our reflection will start from the abilities linked to the body (the body understood as a global phenomenal reality) as they have been analysed by the different phenomenological ethical, or even under the approach of an interdisciplinary research, pedagogical tendencies of our time.

All this with the purpose of arriving at the ethical consequences that such a vision implies in practice, that is to say, in the relationship, support, attention and care of people with disabilities”.