Feminist Ethics and the Ethics of Care

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Feminist Ethics and the Ethics of Care
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What do you think?

• Do you believe there is a female and a male way
  of moral thinking? Give an example.
• If you think that males and females reason
  differently about moral matters, why to you think
  this is case? (biological, psycho-sexual, and
  socio-cultural)
• Do you think women today have equal rights with
  men? Do you think they should? Why or why not?

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What makes ethics feminist?
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What makes ethics feminist?

• Women have value, rights, virtues equal to men
• Women are moral agents with as much ability to
  make sound moral judgments as men

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What makes ethics feminist?

• Values, virtues, rights, reasoning associated
  with men has been given higher status than those
  associated with women.
• Moral theory needs to take into account womens
  ways of reasoning morally and virtues and values
  traditionally associated with women.

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What makes ethics feminist?

• Feminist ethics do not assume female superiority
• Feminist ethics do not reject virtues and values
  associated with men
• Feminist ethics do not reject careful reasoning

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What makes ethics feminist?

• Feminist ethics reject dualism
• Body/soul
• Physical/spiritual
• Emotional/intellectual

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What makes ethics feminist?

• Feminist ethics reject essential hierarchy
• natural hierarchy rejected
• Functional or merited hierarchy accepted

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What makes ethics feminist?

• Feminist ethics seek to be
• Holistic
• Integrated
• Egalitarian
• Relational

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Christian Feminist Ethics

• Power of God as empowerment, not control
• Creative power
• Liberating power
• Sustaining power
• Rejection of divine command theory
• Focus on fundamental principles, values, virtues
  instead of specific rules

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Christian Feminist Ethics

• Humankind created in the image of God
• Life in community, relationship
• Unity of body and spirit
• Importance of justice as providing for the
  welfare of all, especially those on margins
• Love and compassion as fundamental virtues

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Christian Feminist Ethics

• Subordination of women to men as result of human
  failure, not divine intention
• Limitations on role of women as result of needs
  related to specific historical situations
• Need for population ancient Israel/Judaism
• Need to avoid persecution as minority group
  early Christian

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Christian Feminist Ethics

• Limitations on women due to cultural assumptions
• Understanding of procreation
• Social position as natural
• Valuation of intellect over body and connection
  of woman to body

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Differences in Feminist Ethics

• Are there inherent differences between the
  virtues of men and those of women?
• Are there inherent differences in the moral
  reasoning of men and women?
• Do differences necessarily imply
  inferiority/superiority?

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Differences in Feminist Ethics

• Should virtues typically associated with women be
  considered
• True virtues to be cultivated by men and women
• Virtues specific to women, but of equal value to
  male virtues
• Psychological traits of women specifically
• Negative traits that should be rejected

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What do you think?

• Should society value womens virtues as equal to
  mens but clearly different?
• Do inherent differences in men and women suggest
  that they should fill equal but different roles
  in society?
• Do claims of inherent difference necessarily mean
  one is better than the other?

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Mary Wollstonecraft

• The morality of women and men is the same.
• It appears to be different because the
  limitations that society imposes on women
  prevents them from developing positive moral
  traits.
• Good traits become bad traits because of limited
  opportunities.

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Elizabeth Cady Stanton

• Womens virtues are superior to mens.
• Yet, mens virtues have been the standard for the
  world.
• The suppression of womens virtues has been
  detrimental to the world.
• Self-denying benevolence is good,
• But womens higher virtue is self-development.

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Reinhold Neibuhr

• Love for individuals
• Justice for community
• Virtue as self-giving, self-sacrifice

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Valerie Saiving

• Self-sacrifice is appropriate virtue for men
  whose vice is most often pride.
• Womans biological experience leads her to be
  self-giving, sometimes to the point of being
  self-destructive.
• Womans greatest virtue is not self-sacrifice,
  but self-fulfillment.

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Ethics of Care

• A type of virtue ethics
• Identifies female virtue of care as central
• Relational, concerned with community
• Does not reject justice, but views it as
  insufficient.
• Rejects theories of moral development that
  privilege disinterested reason

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Kohlbergs Stages of Moral Development

• Punishment and obedience children do as told
• Instrumental relativist you scratch my back and
  Ill scratch yours
• Conformity fit into group
• Law and order duty, respect for authority
• Social contract do as please so long as not
  harm others
• Universal ethical principle transcends
  conventional morality

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Carol Gilligans Challenge

• Kohlbergs work used only men to define stages,
  then judged women morally inferior
• Kohlberg biased by western ethical traditions
  focus on rights and rules
• Kohlbergs work failed to recognize womens
  language of relationship and responsibility

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Gilligan and Womens Moral Language

• Women speak of benefitting and hurting others,
  i.e. obligation to help and not harm
• Women view ethical issues in context of
  relationship
• Womens morality is personal, particular
• Personal relationships provide model for other
  relationships

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Gilligan and Womens Moral Thinking

• Women empathize with others
• Woman seek to solve problems through talking
  about them and gaining mutual understanding
• Caring and compassion are key virtues
• Meeting the needs of others is key obligation

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Gilligans Levels of Moral Thinking

• Level One women overemphasize interests of their
  own selves whats best for me
• Level Two women overemphasize others interests
  whats best for others
• Level Three women weave own interests with those
  of others whats best for us as a relational
  unit

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Gilligan tries to define a common morality for
men and women

• Gilligan acknowledges criticism that her levels
  are gender specific.
• However, she has observed that women use BOTH the
  language of care and the language of justice
• While men tend to use only justice.
• She believes U.S. society suppresses the
  nurturant side of males and, therefore,
• Limits their moral reasoning

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Issues related to ethics of care

• Are there differences between mens and womens
  moral reasoning?
• If so, what is the source of these differences?
• Does defining womens morality in terms of
  nurturing reinforce traditional role
  distinctions?
• If there are differences, is one superior to the
  other?
• Can/should both men and women adopt a combination
  of the two approaches?

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What do you think? Wonder?

• What is your response to feminist ethics? An
  ethics of care?
• What question does this discussion raise for you?