Pragmatism and Authenticity beyond the Social and Medical Models: A Zhuangzian Approach to Physical and Sensory Disability

ABSTRACT I argue that a Zhuangzian approach offers philosophical resources to address normative issues related to physical and sensory disability. In so doing, I roughly endorse Yong Huang's interpretation of the Zhuangzi . This ethical groundwork allows for an exploration of how we can understand disability. I also argue that the Zhuangzi 's notions of the equality of things, the challenge of binaries (e.g. useful/useless), transformation and change, and the moral principle imply an ethics of disability that merits consideration vis‐à‐vis other normative theories of disability. This is because this theory can address certain limitations of the medical and social models of disability. Examples include failing to recognise the impact of social conventions or exaggerating such conventions and emphasising the relevance of physical impairment.