Autism as a Form of Life: Wittgenstein and the Psychological Coherence of Autism

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Chapman, R. (2019). Autism as a Form of Life: Wittgenstein and the Psychological Coherence of Autism. Metaphilosophy, 50(4), 421-440. https://doi.org/10.1111/meta.12366

Publication date: 1 Jul 2019 Added to AutiHub: 5 Jul 2026 Type: Article Article language: English
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Authors

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1
Publication authors identified as autistic
1 / 1 (100.0%)
  1. Robert Chapman *

Abstract

Abstract Autism is often taken to be a specific kind of mind. The dominant neuro‐cognitivist approach explains this via static processing traits framed in terms of hyper‐systemising and hypo‐empathising. By contrast, Wittgenstein‐inspired commentators argue that the coherence of autism arises relationally, from intersubjective disruption that hinders access to a shared world of linguistic meaning. This paper argues that both camps are unduly reductionistic and conflict with emerging evidence, due in part to unjustifiably assuming a deficit‐based framing of autism. It then develops a new Wittgensteinian account—autism as a different form of life—which avoids these issues. Rather than autistic systemising being the basis of autistic cognition, it is taken to be a reaction to pre‐epistemic and semantic anxieties that come with developing as a minority within a different form of life. This re‐framing can provide a coherent account of the autistic mind, and has significant conceptual, practical, and ethical implications.

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Cited references
62
Total cited references integrated for this publication.
Cited references with an identified autistic author
4 / 62 (6.5%)
Cited author occurrences identified as autistic
4 / 93 (4.3%)
Among occurrences linked to AutiHub author records: 4 / 14 (28.6%). Distinct cited authors identified as autistic: 4 / 80 (5.0%).
Cited author occurrences linked to AutiHub author records
14 / 93 (15.1%)
Distinct linked cited authors: 10 / 80 (12.5%)
Linked cited-author occurrences not identified as autistic
10 / 14 (71.4%)
Among linked cited-author occurrences only. Across all cited-author occurrences: 10 / 93 (10.8%). Distinct linked cited authors not identified as autistic: 6 / 10 (60.0%).
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