Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-4rdpn Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-08T05:18:49.787Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

On the General Concepts of Action and Ability: A Philosophical Introduction to the Theory of Handicaps

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  10 March 2009

Lennart Nordenfelt
Affiliation:
Linköping University

Abstarct

The main task of this paper is to contribute to the theory of disabilities and handicaps, in particular their characterization and classification. It presents an analysis of the conditions for the successful performance of actions. By this procedure a list of reasons for failure of action, i.e., for disability and handicap, is obtained. This list can be used for a detailed classification of disabilities and handicaps. Some theories in modern philosophical action theory serve as platforms for the analysis.

Type
Special Section: Technology and Disability
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1995

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

REFERENCES

1.Goldman, A. I.A study of human action. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall Inc., 1970.Google Scholar
2.Kondraske, G. V. Quantitative measurement and assessment of performance. In Smith, R. V. and Leslie, J. H. Jr. (eds.), Rehabilitation engineering. Boston: CRC Press, 1990, 102–24.Google Scholar
3.Mackie, J. L.The cement of the universe. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1974.Google Scholar
4.Nordenfelt, L.Causation: An essay. Stockholm: Akademilitteratur, 1981.Google Scholar
5.Nordenfelt, L. On the nature of health. Dordrecht: D. Reidel Publishing Company, 1987.Google Scholar
6.Nordenfelt, L.On the notions of disability and handicap. Scandanavian Journal of Social Welfare. 1993, vol. 2, 1724.CrossRefGoogle Scholar