What theory of social justice. is best fit for disabled people?

Transcription

1 Colloque ASERH 5 juillet 2012 What theory of social justice is best fit for disabled people? Philippe Sanchez What do we owe, politically, to? That is the fundamental question of every theory of justice. What do we owe, politically, to disabled people? Here is my fundamental question. In other words, what theory of social justice is best fit for disabled people? And then I will propose several possible answers, in order to outline an approach of a theory of social justice for disabled people. The aim of a theory of social justice is, notably, to think what the fair transfer of goods is, for a group of people considered as needing public support. To conceive such a theory, the thinker has to answer two main questions. Firstly : equality of what? Secondly : what is the fair account of distribution? We could think about some other field of the theories of justice, without distribution as its prominent feature. But today, my perspective is absolutely distributive, and I will work here only on the distribution. A theory of justice suitable for disabled people is necessarily distributive, I believe. It s my axiomatic assumption, that won t be proved. My speech is divided into two parts. Firstly, I will answer the question : equality of what? Next, I will deal with the question : what is the fair account of distribution? I. Equality of what? To understand every issue of justice, we need to choose a prominent focus of analysis. In democratic countries, a problem of justice is absolutely considered in regards to equality and inequality. We have to choose an element of equality, to justify this, and to appraise the different unfair inequalities, subjected by a social group, here disabled people, in regards to another group, here the valid people. This element of equality, in political philosophy and normative economics, is called the metric. To choose the fair metric, it is interesting to study (here, very quickly, unfortunately) the debate between the US philosopher Ronald Dworkin and the Indian economist and 1

2 philosopher Amartya Sen (Nobel Prize in Economics, 1998). This debate is interesting for us, because Dworkin and Sen work specifically about justice for disabled people. In chapter two of his book Sovereign Virtue : The Theory and Practice of Equality, Ronald Dworkin (2000, ch. 2) evokes the question : what is unfair for disabled people, in regards to valid people? Have the disabled got a lower welfare than the valid? Dworkin (2000, 60 (129)) asserts that disabled people, as a social group, could be considered as having a lower level of welfare. But this hypothesis is not convincing for him. The well-being depends on each person : we can find some happy disabled people, and also some unhappy disabled people, explains Dworkin. It is the same for the valid. No rule exists about it. For Dworkin, the element of equality is absolutely not the well-being, but rather the resources. Dworkin considers the physical abilities and the mental skills to define the resources, but he refuses to elaborate his approach from this definition of the resources. To equalize some different abilities, mental or physical, would imply to define the norm of the good body and the real and true intelligence. But, for Dworkin (2000, 80 (158)), it is impossible to define seriously what are the physical or mental norms of reference. Moreover, Dworkin (2000, 80 (158)) explains that we have to choose between some transferable and manipulable resources. Indeed, the subject of a distributive theory of justice is to find some resource, as the metric, that can be distributed. Even if the technologies of rehabilitation are in rapid progress, we cannot transfer a valid brain or other individual resources. We have to find a kind of resources what can be used to correct the injustices for every kind of disability. This kind of resource found may be the criterion used to compare the different categories of compensation. Dworkin (2000, 80 (158)) writes about a good conception of resources to deal out justice for disabled people : The problem is, rather, one of determining how far the ownership of independent material resources should be affected by differences that exist in physical and mental powers, and the response of our theory should speak in that vocabulary. Le problème consiste plutôt à déterminer dans quelle mesure la possession de ressources matérielles indépendantes doit être affectée par les différences entre les capacités mentales et physiques des individus ; la réponse que notre théorie va apporter devra être formulée dans les termes de ce vocabulairelà. 2

3 But Amartya Sen (2009, 265 (323)) criticizes Dworkin, pointing out that the resources for Dworkin are essentially in cash; but Dworkin doesn t seem interested by how disabled people can use these. Sen (2009, 258 (315)) writes about disabled people : The impairment of income-earning ability, which can be called the earning handicap, tends to be reinforced and much magnified in its effect by the conversion handicap : the difficulty in converting incomes and resources into good living, precisely because of disability. La dégradation de leur aptitude à gagner un revenu, appelons la le handicap de gain, est aggravée et amplifiée dans ses effets par le «handicap de conversion : leur difficulté à convertir revenus et ressources en bien-vivre, précisément à cause de leur invalidité. Disabled people are compelled to use a large part of their incomes to compensate their disabilities. That is a strong inequality between disabled and valid people. It is important to understand what a disabled person with his/her abilities, disabilities, and his/her incomes can achieve. To answer this question, Sen proposes that the differences of capability are the point of equality and justice, for every citizen and thus for every disabled person. Sen (2009, ( )) writes : A person s advantage in terms of opportunities is judged to be lower than that of another if she has less capability less real opportunity to achieve those things that she has reason to value. ( ) The concept of capability is thus linked closely with the opportunity aspect of freedom, seen in terms of comprehensive opportunities, and not just focusing on what happens at culmination. L avantage d une personne, en termes d opportunités, est jugé inférieur à celui d une autre, si elle a moins de capabilité moins d opportunités réelles de réaliser ce à quoi elle a raison d attribuer de la valeur. (...) Le concept de capabilité est donc étroitement lié à la dimension d opportunité de la liberté vue en termes d opportunités «compréhensives», et pas seulement focalisé sur ce qui se passe «finalement». We can find an another definition of the notion of capability, in a previous work of Sen (1992, (66)) : Closely related to the notion of functionings is that of the capability to function. It represents the various combinations of functionings (beins and doings) that the person can achieve. Capability is, thus, a set of vectors of functionings, reflecting the person s freedom to lead one type of life or another. Etroitement liée à la notion de fonctionnements, il y a l idée de capabilité de fonctionner. Elle représente les diverses combinaisons de fonctionnements (états et actions) que la personne peut accomplir. La 3

4 capabilité est, par conséquent, un ensemble de vecteurs de fonctionnements, qui indique qu un individu est libre de mener tel ou tel type de vie. A capability is not the same as a physical or mental ability, even though a physical or mental ability can be seen as a capability. A capability is a condition for some valuable choices. If my dream is to become a champion in motor racing, to be able to see is very important. It is a capability necessary to achieve my dream. But, to have a good income to pay for my motorbike and my intensive training is also very important. To have a good income is a capability for a racer. To live in a country where this sport is encouraged and not forbidden is likewise a capability. If I am blind, to become a famous racer is not relevant for me. But I would like to move along in the street. To live in a land where a public policy gives some guidedogs is a capability for me, in regards to my need to walk. To live in a land where the traffic lights ring to inform the walkers to cross the road is a capability for a blind man. The concept of capability appears very useful to encompass the subtleties of the political and ethical problems of disabled people. It could be a prominent metric. Now, it happens to examine two options to choose the fair account of distribution. II. What is the fair principle of distribution? In the previous part, we have just seen the capability as an interesting metric to appraise the inequalities between disabled people and able-bodied people, and to distribute some goods in correction of injustice. What is the fair account of distribution to make justice for disabled people? We could examine several theories of social justice to find the right account : utilitarianism, prioritarianism, egalitarianism etc I will sketch rapidly an opposition between two accounts of distribution. We leave now the debate between Dworkin and Sen, because Sen is very unclear maybe even mute about this point. On contrary, Martha Nussbaum (2006), US philosopher working on the capability approach, deals with the issue of the fair account of distribution. We will see the different conceptions of Dworkin and Nussbaum. Ronald Dworkin (2000, 287), in his conception of the fair distribution, is very sensitive to the individual responsibility. For him : 4

5 In principle, I said, individuals should be relieved of consequential responsibility for those unfortunate features of their situation that are brute bad luck, but not from those that should be seen as flowing from their own choices. If someone has been born blind or without talents others have, that is his bad luck, and, so far as this can be managed, a just society would compensate him for that bad luck. But if he has fewer resources than other people now because he spent more on luxuries earlier, or because he chose not to work, or to work at less remunerative jobs than others chose, then his situation is the result of choice not luck, and he is not entitled to any compensation that would make up his present shortfall. En principe, je l ai dit, les individus ne devraient pas être tenus responsables des conséquences de caractéristiques malheureuses de leur situation qui sont des formes de malchance brute, mais ils devraient être tenus responsables de celles qui résultent de leurs propres choix. Si quelqu un est né aveugle ou sans les talents dont disposent les autres, c est la malchance, et, dans la mesure où cela peut être arrangé, une société juste devrait le compenser pour cette malchance. Mais s il a moins de ressources que les autres maintenant parce qu il choisit de ne pas travailler, ou d exercer une profession mal rémunérée, alors sa situation n est pas le résultat de la malchance, et il ne peut revendiquer une quelconque compensation pour faire face à sa misère actuelle 1. For Dworkin, it is unfair to have some different conditions of life, when your good or bad life is determined by brute luck. The differences of life are not unfair when your conditions of life are determined by your own choices. Dworkin is for equality between those who have good luck and bad luck. He is luck egalitarian and defends an account of distribution responsibility-sensitive. For Dworkin, if someone is disabled because he had an accident in his car, being drunk, he is responsible for his shortfall. There is no reason that society should help him. But we can find some philosophers who are indifferent to the individual responsibility. Martha Nussbaum (2006, ch. 3), for example, considers a disabled person as lacking some capabilities. Nussbaum proposes a list of ten capabilities, too long to develop here. I am just summarizing this list : to be able to have a long life, to be able to have a flourishing sexuality, to be able to have security for his/her body and his/her soul (emotional security), to be able to be taught, to be able to have a critical account of his/her life, to be able to be linked with others, to be able to play, to be able to live in harmony with other species, to be able to participate in the political life of your society, to be able to have a job to earn your own income, and to work in some good conditions without exploitation 2. 1 This quotation is not present in the French translation of Sovereign Virtue. Actually, La vertu souveraine is the translation of the four first chapters of Sovereign Virtue. I translate this quotation. 2 See the list of the ten capabilities in Nussbaum (2006, 76-78). 5

6 For Nussbaum (2006, ch. 3), never mind about the individual responsibility of disabled people in their impairments and disabilities. The point of equality is the differences of capability in a basic level. She doesn t want to know in the opposite of Dworkin if a disabled person is responsible for his impairments and disabilities. For her, the role of the political power, in terms of distributive justice, is to lead each citizen above a basic level of capability, for each capability of her list. She writes about her approach : It is an account of minimum core social entitlements, and it is compatible with different views about how to handle issues of justice and distribution that would arise once all citizens are above the threshold level 3. C est un schème de droits sociaux fondamentaux, et il est compatible avec différentes vues au sujet de comment utiliser les questions de justice et de distribution qui élèveraient tous les citoyens au-delà du niveau de seuil. Such a conception of social justice is called sufficientism. It is fair to lead citizens above a basic threshold. After, the problems of social justice are to work differently. The first claim to make justice for disabled people is to lead them above the threshold of capability. Maybe, is there any other claim to make justice for disabled people; but this is not our topic now. Conclusion To conceive a theory of social justice for disabled people or a minima an approach of social justice we have to choose a prominent metric and a fair account of distribution. I have just proposed two metrics : material resources and capability. I have also proposed two accounts of distribution : one luck-egalitarian and one sufficientist account. We could propose some other metrics and some other accounts of fair distribution. However, my aim, today, has been only to open the options to think a fair conception of social justice for disabled people. Now, it is to you to think, for you, what is the best approach of social justice for disabled people. Maybe, I will soon have the opportunity to stimulate our reflection about it, proposing some other options of metric and account of fair distribution for disabled people. 3 Nussbaum (2006, 75). 6

7 Bibliography Demuijnck Geert & al. (2006), «Ce que les valides doivent aux handicapés : une discussion normative des politiques sociales en faveur des personnes handicapées», in Triomphe Annie dir. (2006). Dworkin Ronald (2000), Sovereign Virtue : The Theory and Practice of Equality, Cambridge (USA), Harvard University Press. Dworkin Ronald (2007), La vertu souveraine, Bruxelles, Bruylant. Nussbaum Martha (2006), Frontiers of Justice : Disability, Nationality, Species Membership, Cambridge (USA), The Belknap Press Of Harvard University Press. Sen Amartya (1992), Inequality Reexamined, Oxford, Clarendon Press, Sen Amartya (2000), Repenser l inégalité, Paris, Le Seuil. Sen Amartya (2009), The Idea of Justice, London, Allen Lane. Sen Amartya (2010), L idée de justice, Paris, Flammarion. Triomphe Annie dir. (2006), Economie du handicap, Paris, Presses Universitaires de France. 7