Ally Peabody Smith, PhD

Ally Peabody Smith is a philosopher and mixed-methods researcher specializing in ethics, philosophy of disability, philosophy of medicine, and bioethics. She received her PhD in philosophy from the University of California, Los Angeles in 2021, where she specialized in moral philosophy. Her work encompasses four, interconnected lines of inquiry: (1) moral status; (2) capacity and communication; (3) bio- and neuroethics; and (4) the emotional, political, and social contexts of disability. Situated between philosophical theory and empirical domains, her research emphasizes how ethical theory can be used to assess questions about disability and bioethics, and how questions about disability force us to rethink foundational topics in ethical and political theory.

A central question of Peabody Smith's research has to do with the nature of interpersonal relationships between non-speaking individuals with severe to profound intellectual disability and those with whom they share their lives. She has recently broadened this interest to include other non-speaking entities, including non-human animals, ecological entities, and various groups of marginalized people unable to “speak” due to oppressive power structures. A core philosophical contribution she is developing is what she terms “relationship-constituted and constituting meaningful expressions,” a morally saturated but ubiquitous form of communication particularly salient for those who cannot speak. Other interests within the domain of disability include a project on the nature of advocacy and informal political representation for non-speaking entities; a work-in-progress on Master Narratives of intellectual disability; and a paper on the permissibility and fittingness of pity and compassion felt by the non-disabled towards the disabled.

Peabody Smith's first book project, 'Love without Language,' brings together her empirical and theoretical work on the role that indexed, situated forms of communication play for non-speaking entities. Her current empirical projects engage qualitative methodologies to (1) assess non-spoken, meaning-conveying communicative practices effective for non-speaking persons and their intimates and (2) the potential of applying virtue ethical frameworks to research and education ethics.

More information and a current CV can be accessed at www.allypeabodysmith.com.

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