Argues for a return to a positive view of the other via a personalist philosophy of being offered by Mounier, Marcel, and Wojtyla, and deepened by participation, belonging, and possibility of contributing to the good of all. It will be of interest to all scholars and students of disability studies, philosophy and anthropology. Disability studies are often regarded as practical studies as opposed to the apparently inevitable theorizing of philosophy or theology. However, this book's methodology of explicitly linking disability studies with philosophy and theology demonstrates their complementarity.

Drawing on rich insights from the early Church Fathers, Discerning Persons addresses the neglected issue of disablism and how discriminatory attitudes fail to treat people with profound disabilities as persons. This discrimination can be found in the field of bioethics, where the stakes are often high and a matter of life or death. Whereas views that give priority to human beings whatever their capacities are seen as speciesist and so discriminatory, bioethical approaches that are disablist are rarely acknowledged as prejudiced. Many bioethicists do not even realize there is an issue. Current bioethical thinking appears uncritical and unreflective in the way it accepts a separation of the human being from the person and downgrades certain individuals who do not fulfill arbitrarily defined and insubstantial criteria for being persons. Using neglected Patristic thinking and its analogies with the human person, abled and disabled, found in reflection on the image of God and in the Trinitarian and Christological disputes of the early centuries where person language originated, the book makes patristic thinking do important work. It establishes that there are no early historical, philosophical, or theological grounds for calling or treating human beings as anything less than persons. Nor is there foundation for defining the person purely in terms of individuality, rationality, autonomy, or self-consciousness. Patristic insights conclusively call us to be discerning persons: to realize that persons are not so much defined as discerned, and to discern that all human beings, whatever their situations or capacities, are unique and unrepeatable persons.

This textbook untangles the complicated ethical dilemmas that arise during the day-to-day work of healthcare chaplaincy, and offers a sturdy but flexible framework which chaplains can use to reflect on their own practice. Tackling essential issues such as consent, life support, abortion, beginning and end of life and human dignity, it enables chaplains to tease out the ethical implications of situations they encounter, to educate themselves on relevant legal matters and to engage with different ethical viewpoints. The book combines case studies of familiar scenarios with thorough information on legal matters, while providing ample opportunity for workplace reflection and offering guidance as to how chaplains can best support patients and their families while preserving their own integrity and well-being. Clear, sensitive and user-friendly, this will be an indispensable resource for healthcare chaplains and all healthcare professionals interested in spiritual care.

Drawing on Pope John Paul's extensive theological and ethical writings this important book explores the status of people with profound intellectual disabilities who some regard simply as 'non-acting'. This book demonstrates that all human beings, whatever their situations or capacities, are acting persons made in the image of God and that all principles whether from Catholic Social Teaching or from Pope John Paul's Theology of the Body apply to every human being as much as to any other. The book also considers liberation theologies of disability and the Pope's reflections on suffering as well as the controversial area of the provision of hydration and nutrition for one most profoundly disabled person, the person in persistent vegetative state. In addition it reflects on spirituality in the life of the profoundly disabled based on Karol Wojty a's thesis on St John of the Cross. As the title of the book explains, the profoundly disabled are only apparently non-acting: no one can discount the possibility of an inner spiritual life and alongside all human beings the profoundly disabled have spiritual needs, are called to a life of holiness and are asked to cooperate in that calling as far as they are able. Moreover, all have a part to play in God's plan of salvation for all are 'workers in God's vineyard'.