One of Us: Conjoined Twins and the Future of Normal

"In the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, conjoined twins were a fixture on the freak show circuit, where they were referred to as “double monstrosities.” The label was offensive but had an important grain of truth tucked inside it. “Monstrosity” comes from the Latin monstrare, to show. Twins are often felt to embody a message or lesson, parting a curtain before the secrets of the universe. Singletons, however, often pick the wrong lesson. For Dreger, the most important thing conjoined twins reveal to us is the flawed nature of the Western understanding of autonomy. Liberals tend to think humans can only be free, and flourish, if they carefully guard the physical, mental and emotional boundaries between themselves and other humans. Conjoined twins flagrantly violate those boundaries, as do many separate twins, and in fact many singletons. Dreger argues that we could all do with seeing our conjoinment with others not as a threat to our autonomy and humanity but an integral part of it. This is an academic book, not a novel, but it’s beautifully written, and it’s likely to radically alter your take on selfhood, freedom and love. Which is something any pair of twins can do, if you pause to think a little more carefully than usual about what it is we might be showing you. Helena de Bres is the author of How to Be Multiple: The Philosophy of Twins . The book is illustrated by her twin, Julia de Bres."