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The Journal of Philosophy of Disability
@jphildis.bsky.social

#NewArticle #OpenAccess "The Human Variation Model of Disability" by Miklós Zala recently came out! Abstract in the comments. Read it here: doi.org/10.5840/jpd2... #PhilSky #Philosophy #DisabilityStudies #DisabilitySky

doi.orgThe Human Variation Model of Disability: A Defense - published on July 28, 2026This paper aims to defend the human variation model of disability (HVM) from a philosophical perspective. The HVM highlights how disability-related disadvantage often arises because social and material environments are designed for a narrower range of human variation than actually exists. Although the model remains central to disability theory, it has received limited philosophical attention since its foundational formulation by Richard K. Scotch and Kay Schriner in the late 1990s. This paper addresses that gap in two ways. First, it presents the HVM, evaluates its strengths and weaknesses, and offers several necessary revisions. Second, it mounts a philosophical defense of the HVM by answering potential objections and comparing it with two recent, related accounts of disability by Alex Gregory, and Katharine Jenkins and Aness Kim Webster, that just like the HVM, also strongly build on the notion of atypicality.
The Journal of Philosophy of Disability
@jphildis.bsky.social

Zala's paper aims to defend the human variation model of disability (HVM) from a philosophical perspective. The HVM highlights how disability-related disadvantage often arises because social and material environments are designed for a narrower range of human variation than actually exists.

The Journal of Philosophy of Disability
@jphildis.bsky.social

Second, it mounts a philosophical defense of the HVM by answering potential objections and comparing it with two recent, related accounts of disability by Alex Gregory, and Katharine Jenkins and Aness Kim Webster, that just like the HVM, also strongly build on the notion of atypicality.