Surprise and the singular plural

Abstract Bodymind diversity, disability scholars argue, contributes to community and to ideals of human flourishing. Phenomenologists like Nancy and Arendt, meanwhile, foreground our human pluralism. But what does it mean to inhabit (and invent) a plural “we” across significant bodily difference? And why is the experience of surprise important to it? A phenomenological investigation of Ginsburg and Rapp's cultural imaginary, “disability worlds,” reveals how surprise can catalyze new forms of potentiality and community, a “we‐ness” beyond sameness that Nancy calls the “singular plural.” This is evident in the experience of Andy, a child with profound intellectual and physical disabilities, whose ways of responding often unsettle expectations. His parents’ surprise during his first ski trip—a joyful, irreducible, singular event—expands their sense of what Andy's body can do and draws them into new forms of community and flourishing. Their surprise also engenders heightened critical awareness of social norms that restrict community and underestimate capacity.