Ethics of care
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The ethics of care (alternatively care ethics or EoC) is a normative
Assumptions of the framework include: persons are understood to have varying degrees of dependence and interdependence; other individuals affected by the consequences of one's choices deserve consideration in proportion to their vulnerability; and situational details determine how to safeguard and promote the interests of individuals.[3]
Historical background
The originator of the ethics of care was
Relationship to traditional ethical positions
Care ethics is different from other ethical models, such as
Care ethics as feminist ethics
While some feminists have criticized care-based ethics for reinforcing traditional gender stereotypes,[18] others have embraced parts of the paradigm under the theoretical concept of care-focused feminism.[19]
Care-focused feminism, alternatively called gender feminism,[20] is a branch of feminist thought informed primarily by the ethics of care as developed by Carol Gilligan and Nel Noddings.[19] This theory is critical of how caring is socially engendered, being assigned to women and consequently devalued. "Care-focused feminists regard women's capacity for care as a human strength"[19] which can and should be taught to and expected of men as well as women. Noddings proposes that ethical caring could be a more concrete evaluative model of moral dilemma, than an ethic of justice.[21] Noddings' care-focused feminism requires practical application of relational ethics, predicated on an ethic of care.[22]
Ethics of care is a basis for care-focused feminist theorizing on maternal ethics. These theories recognize caring as an ethically relevant issue.
Joan Tronto argues that the definition of "ethic of care" is ambiguous due in part to it not playing a central role in moral theory.[25] She argues that considering moral philosophy is engaged with human goodness, then care would appear to assume a significant role in this type of philosophy.[25] However, this is not the case and Tronto further stresses the association between care and "naturalness". The latter term refers to the socially and culturally constructed gender roles where care is mainly assumed to be the role of the woman.[25] As such, care loses the power to take a central role in moral theory.
Tronto states there are four ethical qualities of care:
- Attentiveness: Attentiveness is crucial to the ethics of care because care requires a recognition of others' needs in order to respond to them.[25] The question which arises is the distinction between ignorance and inattentiveness.[25] Tronto poses this question as such, "But when is ignorance simply ignorance, and when is it inattentiveness"?[25]
- Responsibility: In order to care, we must take it upon ourselves, thus responsibility. The problem associated with this second ethical element of responsibility is the question of obligation. Obligation is often, if not already, tied to pre-established societal and cultural norms and roles. Tronto makes the effort to differentiate the terms "responsibility" and "obligation" with regards to the ethic of care. Responsibility is ambiguous, whereas obligation refers to situations where action or reaction is due, such as the case of a legal contract.[25] This ambiguity allows for ebb and flow in and between class structures and gender roles, and to other socially constructed roles that would bind responsibility to those only befitting of those roles.
- Competence: To provide care also means competency. One cannot simply acknowledge the need to care, accept the responsibility, but not follow through with enough adequacy - as such action would result in the need of care not being met.[25]
- Responsiveness: This refers to the "responsiveness of the care receiver to the care".[25] Tronto states, "Responsiveness signals an important moral problem within care: by its nature, care is concerned with conditions of vulnerability and inequality".[25] She further argues responsiveness does not equal reciprocity.[25] Rather, it is another method to understand vulnerability and inequality by understanding what has been expressed by those in the vulnerable position, as opposed to re-imagining oneself in a similar situation.[25]
In 2013, Tronto added a fifth ethical quality:
- Plurality, communication, trust and respect; solidarity or caring with: Together, these are the qualities necessary for people to come together in order to take collective responsibility, to understand their citizenship as always imbricated in relations of care, and to take seriously the nature of caring needs in society.[26]
In politics
It is often suggested that the ethics of care is only applicable within families and groups of friends, but many feminist theorists have argued against this suggestion, including Ruddick, Manning, Held, and Tronto.[12]: 226 Attempts have been made to apply principles from the ethics of care more generally, by identifying values in one particular caring relationship and applying these values to other situations. Moral values are seen as embedded in acts of care.[12]: 220
The ethics of care is contrasted with theories based on the "liberal individual" and a social contract, following Locke and Hobbes. Ethics-of-care theorists note that in many situations, such as childhood, there are very large power imbalances between individuals, and so these relationships are based on care rather than any form of contract. Noting the power imbalances that can exist in society, it is argued that care may be a better basis to understand society than freedom and social contracts.[12]: 219–221
In mental health
Psychiatrist Kaila Rudolph noted that care ethics aligns with a trauma-informed care framework in psychiatry.[27]
Criticism
In the field of nursing, the ethics of care has been criticized by Peter Allmark, Helga Kuhse, and John Paley.[28] Allmark criticized its focus on the mental state of the carer, on the grounds that subjectively caring does not prevent an individual's care from being harmful.[28] Allmark also criticized the theory for conflicting with the idea of treating everyone with unbiased consideration, which he considered necessary in certain situations.[28]
Care ethics has been criticised for failing to protect the individual from paternalism, noting there is a risk of caregivers mistaking their needs for those of the people they care for. Individuals may need to cultivate the ability to distinguish their own needs from those that they care for, with Ruddick arguing for a need to respect the "embodied willfulness" of those who are cared for.[12]: 226
See also
- Altruism
- Ecofeminism
- Ethical relationship
- Feminist epistemology
- Feminist ethics
- Feminist justice ethics
- I and Thou
- Intersubjectivity
- Maternal-fetal conflict § Ethics of care and relational ethics
Theorists
References
- ^ ISSN 2161-0002. Retrieved June 4, 2022.
- ^ a b Gilligan, Carol. "Moral Orientation and Moral Development". In Alison Bailey and Chris J. Cuomo (eds.). The Feminist Philosophy Reader. Boston: McGraw-Hill, 2008.
- ISSN 1464-7001.
- ^ Walker, L.J. (1991). "Sex differences in moral reasoning". In W.M. Kurtines and J. L. Gewirtz (eds.) Handbook of moral behavior and development: Vol, 2. Research. Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.
- ISBN 9780674445444.
- ^ Ward, Dana (2000). "Still Hearing Voice: The Persistent Myth of Gendered Judgment". Keynote address presented at the VIIIth Biennial conference of the International Society for Justice Research, Rishon LeZion, Israel.
- ^ Tong, Rosemarie; Williams, Nancy (May 4, 2009). "Feminist Ethics". Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy. The Metaphysics Research Lab. Retrieved January 6, 2017.
- OCLC 859158671.
- ^ OCLC 1013820392.
- JSTOR 4640020.
- .
- OCLC 1200579878.
- .
- .
- ISBN 9780415901864.
- ^ ISBN 978-0-81-334375-4.
- ISBN 978-0-81-335023-3.
- ISBN 9780520275706.
- ISBN 9780520074132.
- ^ Held, Virginia. Ethics of Care, page 64. Oxford University Press, Oxford, 2006.
- ^ Kittay, Eva Feder: Love's Labor: Essays on Women, Equality and Dependency, page 20. Routledge, New York, 1999.
- ^ ISBN 9781405116619.
- ISBN 9780814782781.
- PMID 34763786.
- ^ .
Further reading
- "Care Ethics". Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy.
- ISBN 9780674445444.
- ISBN 9780195180992.
- ISBN 9780226325934.
- Jagger, Alison (1995), "Caring as a feminist practice of moral reason", in ISBN 9780813321622.
- Noddings, Nel (2005). Educating citizens for global awareness. New York: Teachers College Press. ISBN 9780807745342.
- Slote, Michael A. (2007). The ethics of care and empathy. London; New York: Routledge. ISBN 978-0-415-77200-6.
- S2CID 143230526.