Significant progress was made during the eighteenth century in part
due to philosophy and the thinkers of the Enlightenment. The Enlightenment was characterised by a cultural and intellectual movement emphasising reason, science, and individual rights. This newfound interest in understanding the human experience of blindness led to a shift in societal perceptions and the treatment of individuals with this condition. It
witnessed a shift away from superstitious beliefs towards a more rational and empirical approach to understanding the world, including disabilities like blindness. During this period, philosophers, scientists, and medical
professionals began to explore the intricacies of human senses and disabilities, particularly focusing on blindness.
In the past, blind individuals were commonly believed to be incapable of experiencing any emotions at all, including compassion towards others. This perception led to their ostracization and a lack of empathy for their struggles. The inability to empathise with blind individuals’ suffering can be attributed to this historical belief that they were emotionless. Society struggled to understand and connect with blind individuals on an emotional level, leading to their isolation and exclusion from mainstream society.
At the same time, sensationalism emerged, philosophers and scientists like John Locke and Étienne Bonnot de Condillac began to investigate the concept of “sensation.” They contended that sensory experiences are the source of all knowledge. Blind people were thought to be an important source of information regarding the role of senses in perceiving the environment. In his Essay concerning Human Understanding (1689), Locke enhances the first encouragements toward inventing a method to teach all born-blind individuals and those belonging to the indigent class by the development of the senses, more specifically through touch and habit.
In 1749, Denis Diderot published Lettre sur les aveugles à l’usage de ceux qui voient, a work that not only established him as an original thinker in the eyes of the world, but also resulted in his immediate imprisonment in Vincennes. The primary focus of this letter is a discussion on the relationship between reasoning and the knowledge acquired through the perception of the five senses. The title of the book itself raises ironic doubt regarding the identity of the individuals referred to as “the blind” in question.
He exposes the absurdity of the spectacle and highlights the impossibility of immediate restoration of sight following such a significant surgical procedure. Consequently, Diderot poses the question to his readers as to why one would desire to restore sight to individuals who have managed to live without it thus far. What advantages would they derive from such an intervention? In this letter, Diderot vehemently argues against modern medicine, particularly cataract surgery, asserting that a blind person
The fact that philosophers such as Descartes, Diderot, and Locke have engaged with this topic signifies a significant step towards fostering greater acceptance of visual disability, which blind individuals experience. This engagement has initiated a prolonged discourse that holds the potential to drive progress in this area.
Locke, John. An Essay Concerning Human Understanding.
Diderot, Denis. Lettre sur les aveugles à l’usage de ceux qui voient.