Abstract
This thesis employs the Aristotelian concept of equity in acknowledging differences between individuals, which continue despite apparent increases in social uniformity. Differences affecting education are considered in the light of the Warnock Report 'Special Educational Needs', subsequent constructions of educational policy on integration, and polarisation of opinion between those holding the Report to be too radical, and potentially damaging to the education system, and those holding it not radical enough. Part One, 'Introduction', places the Report in an historical context, and in the context of contemporary thought. The Report is not revolutionary, but represents a stage in the evolution of educational theory and practice. Part Two, 'The Handicapped Person in Society', studies related concepts, differentiation and categorisation, with reference to relativistic notions of normality and deviance. Particular attention is given to the relativistic theory that 'handicap' is socially conditioned and hence avoidable, which is criticised and replaced by the thesis that serious handicaps, whilst possibly affected by social conditioning, are not socially created, but objectively real. The concept of a person is examined, and compared to that of an adult. Part Three, 'The Handicapped Person in Education', examines the philosophical debate over the contested concept of education, and then focusses on special education, leading to a review of the special methods and contents used with severely handicapped children, and of the Report's title 'Special Educational Needs'. Part Three closes by exploring the philosophies of integration and comprehensivisation. Part Four, 'Conclusion', links analysis of the principal philosophical issues raised by this study with the putative end of Special Education following the Warnock Report. This contains little that is revolutionary, yet some interpretations, made for non-educational reasons, are held to be potentially damaging to the education of handicapped people. Such interpretations largely arise from the ambiguities of the Report's use of emotive concepts.