Since April 2021, I have been working as a research assistant at Johannes Gutenberg University. In September 2022, I completed my dissertation at the University of Bern on the moral claims to inclusion of people with cognitive disabilities. Since then, I have been researching and teaching on topics related to the nature of disability, the foundations of moral equality, and the value and normative significance of social relations. This includes addressing questions about fundamental concepts such as physical and mental dysfunction, human interests and needs, and directed duties.  

As a ‘Human Abilities’ Fellow, I will be completing a book manuscript on whether people with disabilities, particularly those with so-called profound cognitive disabilities, have moral claims to inclusion, and if so, on what normative basis. In the process of answering these questions, the book develops theoretical positions from which it can be argued that people with cognitive disabilities have equal moral claims as people without disabilities, and on precisely the same grounds. 

During my time at the Centre, I will also be exploring questions about the scope of responsibility. Traditional approaches to moral responsibility typically link participation in the community of those who can be held responsible to certain cognitive capacities. I will examine the reasons and possibilities for not limiting the community of those we can hold responsible to individuals with sophisticated cognitive capacities.