ethics of care

ethics of care, feminist philosophical perspective that uses a relational and context-bound approach toward morality and decision making. The term ethics of care refers to ideas concerning both the nature of morality and normative ethical theory. The ethics of care perspective stands in stark contrast to ethical theories that rely on principles to highlight moral actions—such as Kantian deontology, utilitarianism, and justice theory—and is not meant to be absolute and incontrovertible.

(Read Peter Singer’s Britannica entry on ethics.)

American philosopher Nel Noddings provided one of the first comprehensive theories of care and argued that caring is the foundation of morality. She saw relationships as ontologically basic to humanity, where identity is defined by the set of relationships individuals have with other humans. In suggesting that caring is a universal human attribute, Noddings asserted that a caring relation (a relationship in which people act in a caring manner) is ethically basic to humans. Since the impulse to care is universal, caring ethics is freed from the charge of moral relativism to the same degree as is virtue ethics.

The particularity of relations is fundamental to the ethics of care. According to Noddings, each caring relation consists of at least two people, the “one-caring” and the “cared-for.” Such a relation can certainly be more than merely dyadic (an influence-based relationship between two people) as the one-caring and the cared-for may come to exhibit reciprocal commitment to each other’s well-being. However, what is distinctive in all such relations is that the one-caring acts in response to a perceived need on the part of the cared-for. The act is motivated by an apprehension of the cared-for’s reality, where the one-caring feels and senses what the cared-for is experiencing and initiates a commitment to help. This does not mean that the one-caring does exactly what the cared-for desires in all situations. Rather, the one-caring considers the cared-for’s point of view, assessment of need, and expectations of the one-caring in formulating a response that provides the best opportunity for helping the cared-for. This response might be irrational, since caring involves the commitment to do something, however remote the possibilities of success, to improve the cared-for’s condition. In the ideal situation, however, the reason(s) the one-caring gives for his or her actions would be sufficient to convince a disinterested observer that the one-caring indeed acted in a way to promote the cared-for’s well-being. Caring thus involves sentiment but is not necessarily emotional in nature.

Within the ethics of care, the one-caring receives the cared-for without evaluation. However, in deciding how to respond, the one-caring works in what Noddings called a “problem-solving” mode in order to keep in mind the particular relationship and context and to avoid slipping into the abstract, impartial, impersonal reasoning of the deontologist, the utilitarian, or the justice theorist. Ultimately, there is a defining imperative to act that is a critical function of what it means to care.

These ideals apply to both natural caring, which is caring borne of inclination and love for those close to the one-caring, and ethical caring, which is the feeling response of “I must” to a person’s predicament. Ethical caring is a natural outgrowth of natural caring, but, unlike Kant’s ranking of duty as primary and inclination as secondary, in the ethics of care the inclination to care is primary. Even with regard to those with whom one has no caring relationship—complete strangers—memories of natural caring arise, generating a feeling of “I must do something.” This impulse is obligatory in anyone who aspires to the sense of self as a moral, caring person. However, within the ethics of care, this obligation to the stranger is limited. Two criteria must be met for such a duty to have force: (1) the relationship with the other person must exist (or have the potential to exist), and (2) the relationship must have the potential to grow into a mutually caring relationship. One does not have either the capacity or the duty to care for everyone. However, one does hold an obligation to be prepared to care at all times for particular others—for “the proximate stranger.”

There are three levels of a caring morality: the self is cared for to the exclusion of the other, the other is cared for to the exclusion of the self, and moral maturity, wherein the needs of both self and other are understood. While stopping short of equating this ethics with virtue ethics, some authors have suggested that this portrayal sounds very much like the description of an Aristotelian virtue. Not opposed to a legitimate place for emotion in ethical discourse, Aristotle outlined the importance of feeling at the proper times and for good reasons. He saw the virtues of a moral person as the mean between the extremes of excessive and deficient behaviour. Applying this depiction to caring, the virtue would be caring (understanding the needs of self and other), the vice of excess might be codependence (caring for others to the exclusion of self), and the vice of deficiency might be selfishness (caring for self to the exclusion of others).

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Although it was not necessary that feminine moral theory be aligned with the ethics of care, it so happens that those writing in the feminine tradition have come to associate care and responsibility to others with a female-gendered approach to ethics and individual rights and justice with a male-gendered approach to ethics. Feminist philosophers have argued that the deontological, utilitarian, and justice moral theories are grounded in the masculine experience. More specifically, those theories are seen to emerge in concert with the traditionally masculine forum of economic activity. Within that perspective, the values of competition and domination are seen to undergird both the activities of the marketplace and the rational moral theories. Philosophers such as American feminist Virginia Held have argued for adopting more compassionate bases for human interaction(s).

Feminist moral theory has tended to mirror the differing gender experiences of women and men, particularly as those affect the development of understanding with respect to the ways the ethical life is conducted. However, it has been noted that “feminist” moral theory is not “feminine” moral theory, as feminist perspectives are not fully determined by gendered points of view. Nevertheless, the suggestion that gender matters, particularly as gender relates to one’s ethical predispositions, calls into question the inherent “objectivity” of ethical theories, which are advanced in part because of their universal merit and application. Feminine moral theory thereby deals a blow to the exclusively rational systems of thought, which have as their grounding an inherent disregard for the inherently personal—and sometimes gender-biased—nature of knowledge construction.