u/world_mind

I have previously had the (theoretical) view that every person is a valuable member of society - diversity of humans is valuable. At the same time, I was quite driven to contribute as much to society as I could - eg working hard, helping others practically.
I suddenly became disabled a few years ago and I’m not sure if I’ll recover and not sure if I’ll ever be able to contribute to society in terms of eg work output, doing things to help other people, being able to think clearly. This has challenged my theoretical views about intrinsic human value. Now I often don’t feel like a valuable member of society and often feel like a burden. Who are some philosophers I can read to help think about this more deeply? What schools of thought consider these issues in a way that I might find helpful? What value do people hold when they are old /disabled /unwell? Taking this to an extreme point, would a utilitarian view be to kill off people when they don’t “contribute” to society? From a virtue ethics point of view, can we pursue being virtuous when our cognition is not functioning well and when ill-health has resulted in a withdrawal from society?