When Does an Act Express an Attitude? The Expressivist Objection and Meanings of “Expressing“ 

David Kubíček

Masaryk University

In the second half of the last century, as a result of rapid scientific progress, prenatal genetic diagnosis began to be implemented and legalized. Thanks to this, we are able today to diagnose potential disabilities in a fetus and, based on this diagnosis, terminate the pregnancy prematurely.

Many advocates for the rights of people with disabilities have objected to this practice and certain other medical practices, such as euthanasia or controversial treatments, arguing that they express ableist attitudes toward people with disabilities (the so-called “expressivist objection”).

Currently, however, this objection is considered invalid or at least very weak. One reason for this skepticism is Allan Buchanan’s influential article (1996), in which he rejects the expressivist objection, arguing that both physicians and parents may be motivated by entirely non-ableist reasons. Thus, the aforementioned practice does not express ableism because it does not necessarily presuppose it.
 
In my contribution, I will refute Buchanan’s currently accepted critique of the expressivist objection (Nelson, 1998; Perez Gomez, 2020). I will argue that, based on our everyday usage, the term “to express” must be understood much more broadly than as a mere implication or presupposition. Instead, I will offer an alternative conception of “expressing,” according to which this term can be understood as a cluster of many closely related meanings. In my critique, I will draw on the conception of Stephen Campbell and Joseph Stramond (2022), who attribute three  meanings to the term “expressing”: “intentional communication,” “revealing,” and “having a social meaning.” I will expand on this conception and show how it encompasses the meaning of “expression” highlighted by me, according to which action X expresses attitude Y if Y is prima facie the most probable reason for X. In the conclusion of this presentation, I will outline how this conception can be useful for the expressivist objection.

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