First published in 1985. Despite the vast number of books available on mental handicap, there had been little published about moral, philosophical or ethical issues. Yet such issues must be faced and indeed answered, either explicitly or implicitly, before any system of education or care for mentally handicapped people can be put into practice.

Acknowledgments; Preface; Contributors; Introduction: The Philosophy of Special Education Ronald S. Laura and Adrian F. Ashman; 1. Equal Human Rights and Employment for Mentally Retarded Persons Michael D. Bayles 2. Ambivalence of Attitude to the Mentally Retarded R. S. Downie 3. The Ethics of De-institutionalisation and Afterwards Susan C. Hayes 4. Mental Retardation and Paternalist Control R. F. Khan 5. Psychosurgery and the Mentally Retarded John Kleinig 6. Can We Avoid Assigning Greater Value to Some Human Lives Than to Others? Peter Singer 7. Infanticide Bonnie Steinbock 8. Long Days of Journeys into Night: The Tragedy of the Handicapped at Risk Infant George P. Smith III 9. Genetics and Mental Retardation Jacquelyn and K. Kegley 10. Mental Retardation and Genetic Engineering Ronald S. Laura 11. Rights, Interests, and Mental Handicap Ronald S. Laura and Adrian F. Ashman