Eva Feder Kittay is Distinguished Professor Emerita of Philosophy at Stony Brook University/SUNY. Her pioneering work interjects questions of feminism, care and disability (especially cognitive disability) into philosophy.
What excites you about philosophy?
Philosophy is in my DNA. I have been thinking philosophically since I was a child — I just discovered it was philosophy when I took my first college philosophy class. Philosophy accommodates my penchant for thinking deeply, and thinking hard. Paradoxically, philosophy is most enjoyable when I am not too personally invested in the material. When I worked in the philosophy of language, I could get very excited about unravelling the mysteries of how metaphors can mean what they do not say: How does Donne speak of seduction when he only talks about fishing? Or Socrates expound on philosophical thought when he speaks of midwives and birth? As my thinking turned to feminism, care ethics, and disability, I was writing about what mattered deeply in my life. Philosophy was as engrossing as ever, though less fun. It has been at times as emotionally difficult as it was intellectually challenging — but it was more meaningful to me and my readers. Today what is so exciting is that my writing on philosophy and disability can matter to people in a small village in Zimbabwe, as I learned from one reader when visiting South Africa.
What are you most proud of in your professional life? And what do you consider your greatest accomplishment?
Happily there are several things that I am most proud of. One is my authored books: Metaphor: Its Cognitive Force and Linguistic Structure, Love’s Labor: Essays on Women, Equality and Dependency, Learning From My Daughter: The Value and Care of Disabled Minds – they were each long in the making for it took me years to hone the language and the logic. I am very proud of helping to create and maintain, for over ten years, the summer workshop for underrepresented students in philosophy, Philosophy in an Inclusive Key (PIKSI). Now the program continues, and while it was started by white middle-age women philosophers, it is now run mostly by much younger women of color and has become a model for many other programs. I very proud of a number of offices and awards, including becoming President of the Eastern Division APA — an honor I never expected to have. I could not be more proud of having mentored so many wonderful graduate students who have gone on to have stellar careers. Perhaps I am most proud of pioneering cognitive disability as a subject of philosophy. My greatest accomplishment may be to have introduced into philosophy my daughter Sesha, a person who herself will never read philosophy, but who is having an impact on the subject.
What are you working on right now?
Like so many, I have been derailed by the COVID pandemic, writing short essays on the subject and cooperating with a number of philosophers and bioethicists on a joint paper on COVID19 for the Hastings Center. My major project is a book tentatively entitled, Who’s Truly Human (Oxford University Press). This book and Learning From My Daughter (which, I am proud to say, won the American Publishers Association 2019 PROSE award for philosophy) are joined in a project that began twenty years ago with the publication of Love’s Labor (reprinted in a second edition by Routledge in 2019). I aim to examine, through the lens of cognitive disability, important philosophical concepts such as the good life, normalcy, reproductive choice, dignity, moral status and personhood. I also articulate an ethics of care more systematically than has been done to date and adumbrate a theory of justice that does not exclude people with cognitive disabilities. Who’s Truly Human, in particular, is concerned with the interconnected concepts of justice, dignity and personhood, which I view in light of our dependency, relationality and vulnerability. Supposing that all persons are equally situated, rational, independent agents tends to cast people with disabilities as “they” rather than “us.” But there is neither “they” nor “us”. We deserve theories that recognize that we are all human beings in different possible conditions.
Which books have changed your life? In what ways? Who is your favorite philosopher and why?
My first foray into the work of Spinoza was On the Emendation of the Human Understanding. I was to write a three-page paper on any of our readings for a course on European Intellectual History. Oh, how I struggled with that short assignment! I had no idea that it was one of the most difficult essays in philosophy.The challenge of that essay made me want to study the Ethics. I found there a universe of meaning and vision. I was not at all put off by the Euclidean form of thesis and proof. In fact, I loved the rigor applied to questions of ethics, politics and metaphysics. I loved Spinoza’s humanity and vision of society. These combined with a vision of the totality of being was breathtaking. I fell in love with philosophy as I fell in love with Spinoza. It was life changing.
What would your childhood self say if someone told you that you would grow up to be a philosopher?
My childhood self would say: “What is philosophy?” And if my childhood self was then told what philosophy was, that self would say: “Of course, what else could I possibly do with my life?” But really, my childhood self knew only that I did not want, as Belle in Disney’s Beauty and the Beast says, “This provincial life,” where “provincial” stands in for “conventional.”
When did you last sing to yourself, or to someone else?
I sing to my daughter as often as I can, for she loves me to sing to her; and it is a wonderful way to communicate to someone who is nonverbal. Among her favorites are Some of my Favorite Things (and yes, I know all the lyrics to that song), Moon River, and Somewhere Over the Rainbow. When I sing My Funny Valentine, she smiles as I sing: “But don’t change a hair for me, not if you care for me — stay little Valentine stay.” I can’t be certain, but I think she understands them, as I mean to sing them, as an affirmation of who she is with all her differences.
This section of the APA Blog is designed to get to know our fellow philosophers a little better. We’re including profiles of APA members that spotlight what captures their interest not only inside the office, but also outside of it. We’d love for you to be a part of it, so please contact us via the interview nomination form here to nominate yourself or a friend.
Dr. Sabrina D. MisirHiralall is an editor at the Blog of the APA who currently teaches philosophy, religion, and education courses solely online for Montclair State University, Three Rivers Community College, and St. John’s University.
