Concepts of disability and health: a theoretical excursus

The chapter aims to provide an overview of the different conceptions of disability that have marked the scientific and social debate in the last century, trying to capture its main aspects through the evolution of the main models of disability. Attempts to propose definitions of disabilities that integrate different dimensions and interactions can be understood in the light of this evolution. What we call "disability" today has always been a cause for fear and debate. For a long time, the main question has been to what extent different beings, in body or mind, belonged to humanity. In ancient times they were considered "superhuman" beings close to the gods, then, in the classical centuries, as "infrahuman" beings, intermediaries between humanity and animality. Now that finally the condition of humanity of "disabled people" is fully recognized, the debate has moved mainly on their social condition.