Williams P C
Division of Medicine in Society, Health Sciences Center, Stony Brook, NY 11794-8036, USA.
Mt Sinai J Med. 1995 Mar;62(2):98-101; discussion 116-23.
Though we should help improve the lives of those with disabilities, it is not because we owe them help. The paper begins with a discussion of some features of disabilities: they are defining, ubiquitous, mutable, context dependent, and normative. The moral meaning of "owing" is analyzed and sources of moral duties set out and related to the moral claims of the disabled. Finally the paper suggests that decency--a minimal concern for the welfare of those whose lot we can improve--is a richer way to explain the moral propriety of helping the handicapped.
虽然我们应该帮助改善残疾人的生活，但这并非因为我们亏欠他们帮助。本文开篇讨论了残疾的一些特征：它们具有决定性、普遍存在、可变、依赖情境且具有规范性。分析了“亏欠”的道德含义，阐述了道德义务的来源，并将其与残疾人的道德诉求联系起来。最后，本文提出，得体——对那些我们能够改善其命运的人的福利的起码关注——是解释帮助残疾人的道德正当性的一种更丰富的方式。
