Ethics and inclusion

Abstract

This article aims to go beyond the spontaneous and uncontroled uses of the words "ethics" and "inclusion". First an historical and critical assessment of the philosophical works on éthics is carried out. Then the evolution of the social and cultural representations of disability (handicap) is reviewed in order to understand the relationships between ethics and disabitlity. The case of France and the present french debates about the schooling of disabled children allows a discussion of the notion of school inclusion. The conceptual validity of the opposition couples "intégration/inclusion" and "exclusion/inclusion" is questioned.Finally an ethics of responsability is advocated instead of an illusive ethics of conviction.