Deaf or deaf? Questioning alleged antinomies in the bioethical discourses on cochlear implantation and suggesting an alternative approach to d/Deafness
The assumption that there exist two mutually exclusive conceptions of d/Deafness – a medical/biological as opposed to a socially constructed one – is an underlying premise for much of the ongoing bioethical discourse on paediatric cochlear implantation. This text first presents this discourse and th...
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doaj-d6524fc96c6d4c109939b10ee0b23fc52020-11-24T21:06:20ZengStockholm University PressScandinavian Journal of Disability Research1501-74191745-30112009-07-0111215917410.1080/15017410902830744267Deaf or deaf? Questioning alleged antinomies in the bioethical discourses on cochlear implantation and suggesting an alternative approach to d/DeafnessPatrick Kermit0Department of Social Work and Health Science, The Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU), Trondheim, NorwayThe assumption that there exist two mutually exclusive conceptions of d/Deafness – a medical/biological as opposed to a socially constructed one – is an underlying premise for much of the ongoing bioethical discourse on paediatric cochlear implantation. This text first presents this discourse and then analyses the alleged antinomy. Using the original Kantian conception of antinomies, it is argued that trying to judge which is more ‘true’, nature or convention, is futile. Against the backdrop of the history of deaf education and recognition of signed languages as fully fledged languages, a three-fold, intertwined approach to d/Deafness is suggested that includes: deafness as physical impairment, Deafness as lingual belonging and deafness as socially constructed disability. Whether or not cochlear implants represent something useful or something harmful to deaf children depends on how the interaction between the different notions of d/Deafness is understood.https://www.sjdr.se/articles/338deafnessethicscochlear implantsdisabilityimpairmentlanguage |
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DOAJ |
language |
English |
format |
Article |
sources |
DOAJ |
author |
Patrick Kermit |
spellingShingle |
Patrick Kermit Deaf or deaf? Questioning alleged antinomies in the bioethical discourses on cochlear implantation and suggesting an alternative approach to d/Deafness Scandinavian Journal of Disability Research deafness ethics cochlear implants disability impairment language |
author_facet |
Patrick Kermit |
author_sort |
Patrick Kermit |
title |
Deaf or deaf? Questioning alleged antinomies in the bioethical discourses on cochlear implantation and suggesting an alternative approach to d/Deafness |
title_short |
Deaf or deaf? Questioning alleged antinomies in the bioethical discourses on cochlear implantation and suggesting an alternative approach to d/Deafness |
title_full |
Deaf or deaf? Questioning alleged antinomies in the bioethical discourses on cochlear implantation and suggesting an alternative approach to d/Deafness |
title_fullStr |
Deaf or deaf? Questioning alleged antinomies in the bioethical discourses on cochlear implantation and suggesting an alternative approach to d/Deafness |
title_full_unstemmed |
Deaf or deaf? Questioning alleged antinomies in the bioethical discourses on cochlear implantation and suggesting an alternative approach to d/Deafness |
title_sort |
deaf or deaf? questioning alleged antinomies in the bioethical discourses on cochlear implantation and suggesting an alternative approach to d/deafness |
publisher |
Stockholm University Press |
series |
Scandinavian Journal of Disability Research |
issn |
1501-7419 1745-3011 |
publishDate |
2009-07-01 |
description |
The assumption that there exist two mutually exclusive conceptions of d/Deafness – a medical/biological as opposed to a socially constructed one – is an underlying premise for much of the ongoing bioethical discourse on paediatric cochlear implantation. This text first presents this discourse and then analyses the alleged antinomy. Using the original Kantian conception of antinomies, it is argued that trying to judge which is more ‘true’, nature or convention, is futile. Against the backdrop of the history of deaf education and recognition of signed languages as fully fledged languages, a three-fold, intertwined approach to d/Deafness is suggested that includes: deafness as physical impairment, Deafness as lingual belonging and deafness as socially constructed disability. Whether or not cochlear implants represent something useful or something harmful to deaf children depends on how the interaction between the different notions of d/Deafness is understood. |
topic |
deafness ethics cochlear implants disability impairment language |
url |
https://www.sjdr.se/articles/338 |
work_keys_str_mv |
AT patrickkermit deafordeafquestioningallegedantinomiesinthebioethicaldiscoursesoncochlearimplantationandsuggestinganalternativeapproachtoddeafness |
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