Should we attempt to eradicate disability?

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Abstract
This paper addresses two very important questions about the ethics of dealing with disability, namely: is it morally wrong to attempt to eradicate disability? and does such an attempt constitute discrimination against the disabled? The attempts to answer these two very general questions involve distinguishing two prior questions: is it wrong to prefer a non-disabled person to a disabled one, and is it wrong to prefer to produce (or even to prefer to be) a non-disabled individual rather than a disabled one? The paper argues that not only is it not wrong, but indeed it is right to prefer to produce a non-disabled individual rather than a disabled one where there is a genuine choice. It argues that the exercise of such a choice is morally defensible and does not constitute discrimination against those with disability, although the contrary is often asserted. The paper concludes that attempts to eradicate disability are not the same as attempts to eradicate the disabled, even where these attempts constitute preferring not to create new individuals with disability.

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