Different Bodies
Dissertation, The University of Connecticut (
2003)
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Abstract
This dissertation explores bodily responsibility, which I define as responsibility for the properties and appearances of one's body. The overall objective of the work is to present bodily responsibility as an important ethical topic. In doing so I answer two key questions: Do we have responsibility for the bodily properties we choose? Do we choose the bodily properties we for which are responsible? I begin by comparing four bodily responsibility accounts from the history of philosophy . The following chapters give case studies of two "different bodies", bodies with physical disabilities and bodies with surgically exaggerated genders. The final chapter compares bodily responsibility with moral responsibility. I argue throughout that, in fact, we are not always responsible for the bodily properties we choose, and we do not always choose the bodily properties for which we are responsible