2025/07/02 by Nikoletta Kende · 1 voice
Arts and Humanities · #Medical History and Research
paper · pdf · doi:10.1515/eehs-2025-0008
openalex publication_date 2025/07/02 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/05/06
s impressive work, The Question of Unworthy Life, examines the evolution of the frameworks within which people with cognitive disabilities lived in Germany from the 19th century onwards.The author's approach is novel: she studies people with disabilities (or those claimed to have them) through the lens of intellectual history, and investigates how in pre-and post-fascist eras emotions, ideological, and moral arguments shaped the evaluation of human lives. 1 The book is structured chronologically, and guides us through a significant period from the 1850s, the two world wars, the postwar period on both sides of the Berlin wall, and finally what remained after its fall.During this journey, the author excellently shows not only the details of the complex systematic mistreatment of people with disabilities in different fields but also demonstrates the other side, the 'undehumanizing' 2 heroes who tried to give back dignity to those affected.The starting point is the introduction of the three main areas that have contributed to the care and perception of those who live with a disability: religious charity, pedagogy, and medicine.The author contends that because these spheres inspire and challenge each other, a joint analysis is required to understand how their shift exacerbates injustice against people with disabilities.To make this change visible, the text explores the changing intellectual climate from late 19th century's disillusionment with curability to lowering expectations and the hierarchization of people with disabilities.Initially, individuals were classified by their educability, labor value, and care needs, which were addressed mainly from educational and 1 By choosing this time span and a more focused look on the fate of people with disabilities, the author complements the paradigm-shifting work of Henry Friedlander, which looks at the intertwining relationship of eugenics and the 'euthanasia' program during Nazism, leading to the Holocaust.See