Hearing perspectives on deafness: a century-long form of power

The first philosophical reflection on deafness dates back to Aristotle, who described the functional link between hearing and voice, clarifying that deafness affects the development of spoken language, not the faculty of language itself. Plato, in Cratylus, stated that language could also manifest in visual-gestural forms. Thus, foundational texts of the philosophy of language hold a neutral view of deafness and visualgestural languages. However, at some point in cultural history, the idea emerged that deafness hinders the development of intelligence, causing reflections on visual-gestural languages to be forgotten. It was not until the Enlightenment’s re-evaluation of the mind-body relationship that this view of deafness was challenged, thanks primarily to Charles-Michel L’Épée, who founded a school where deaf individuals were treated equally to hearing individuals and learned through their natural sign language. Before and even after him (Milan Congress, 1880), there were many structural injustices, many of which persist today.