Jonathan Cole: "Cerebral palsy; restrictions on intention and action, language and thought"

Lecture by Jonathan Cole, Consultant in Clinical Neurophysiology, Poole Hospital. Visiting Professor, University of Bournemouth.

Abstract:
A few years ago, at a phenomenological meeting in the UK on healthcare, I met two philosophers, Minae Inahara and Michael Peckitt, who also lived with cerebral palsy. I encouraged them to reveal how they live, one having little control over one side of his body, the other unable to control her head well, or speak without effort and attention. I will discuss some of their insights into agency, action and the effects of their impairment on interaction with others and with the world. I will also discuss the pathology and some clinical aspects of CP in passing, and give some of the insights from two famous Irish authors with severe cerebral palsy, Christopher Nolan and Christy Brown