Prefiguration and the Abolition of Bioethics

Foucault’s genealogical method is the best approach with which to examine how the subfield of bioethics (1) contributes to the production of the problem of disability (and its naturalized foundation)–that is, contributes to the production of disability as a problem; and (2) is designed to hasten its elimination, that is, to resolve the problem that […]

Disabling Bioethics: Notes Toward An Abolitionist Genealogy

I am putting the finishing touches on “Disabling Bioethics: Notes Toward An Abolitionist Genealogy,” my contribution to Genealogy: A Genealogy, edited by Verena Erlenbusch-Anderson and Daniele Lorenzini. (Columbia University Press, 2025). I have copied below the pre-copyedited version of the first section of the chapter which appears under the heading “Conceptual Needs of the Argument […]

Philosophy, Bioethics, and Dirty Hands

In my previous post, I noted that one philosopher in attendance at my Syracuse presentation claimed that I had confused the causal relation between bioethics (and bioethicists) and the popularity and normalization of prenatal testing and screening. As I noted, furthermore, my interlocutor pointed out to me (in a somewhat patronizing fashion) that prospective parents […]

Bioethics and the Reproduction of Power

During the question period following my presentation at Syracuse University, one interlocutor asserted that I had confused the direction of causation between prenatal testing and bioethics. Prospective parents, he said, do not, as he understood me to suggest, avail themselves of prenatal testing because bioethicists tell them to do so. Rather, the technology has developed, […]

Disabling Bioethics: An Abolitionist Genealogy

Two weeks from today, that is, January 14, I leave for the Eastern APA in New York. I will present in an APA symposium on my work in philosophy of disability on Tuesday, January 16, and then travel to Syracuse on Thursday, January 18, to present at the Central New York Humanities Corridor on Friday, […]

A Philosophical Defense of Youth Suffrage

The following is an edited translation of an interview that I gave to Die Tageszeitung, a cooperative-owned German daily newspaper. The interviewer was Valérie Catil.  A philosopher on children’s right to vote For the philosopher Mich Ciurria, not letting children vote is a form of discrimination. She demands voting rights from birth. Wochentaz: Dr. Ciurria, the governing parties […]

Dialogues on Disability, Centennial Edition, Wednesday, July 19, at 8 am

I have read almost all of your interviews and they are always wonderful. …  I am really looking forward to the next installment of Dialogues on Disability.” — Adrian Piper “I’ve learned so much from Shelley Lynn Tremain’s Dialogues on Disability through the years (and found out about so much exciting work being done by disabled […]

Some of Our Favourite BIOPOLITICAL PHILOSOPHY Posts From 2022

At BIOPOLITICAL PHILOSOPHY, we are pleased with everything that we post. But here are some of our favourite posts from 2022. Please search the blog’s archives for additional interventions, Dialogues on Disability interviews, exploratory essays, and more! January Dialogues on Disability: Shelley Tremain Interviews Adrian Ekizian Barton (Shelley) Special Issue on Indigeneity and Disability (Shelley) Academic Gatekeeping […]