The Ethics Of Care
Thomas Sikkema
Professor John Schneider
PHI 102
6 April 2015
The Ethics of Care The Ethics of Care is defined as the feminist approach on the view that men and women approach morality in very different ways: with men stressing principles, and women stress more on emotions when making a moral choice (John Schneider, Lecture: Ethics of Care). The main proposals of the Ethics of Care were presented by Carol Gilligan, a psychologist who focused on how women differ in how they approach ethical issues compared to men. Gilligan proposes that women are more likely to solve moral problems by feelings like empathy, compassion, or loving care rather than a more deontological approach used commonly with men. This ethical theory is often seen in the medical field. Suppose a patient undergoing cancer treatment is under excruciating pain. However, pain medication may not be administered to the patient because of an unknown precaution put in place for the nurses to abide. A male nurse would look at this situation and not give the distressed patient the pain medication because there is a rule in place saying that the patient cannot receive the medication. A female nurse may look at the situation differently though. The pain that the patient is in might give the nurse a sense of empathy for the patient, causing the female nurse to not abide by the rules and give the patient the medication to relieve the pain.
Later in our reading, Allison Jaggar gives a feminist approach to ethics termed feminist ethics. This approach focuses on correcting male biases that are perceived in traditional ethics that usually lead to rationalizations and stereotypes of the moral experiences of women (Pojman and Vaughn, 443). The main point of feminist ethics is the extra emphasis on how the social relationships we have affect our ethical choices and responsibilities. According class PowerPoint’s, “Feminist Ethics calls attention to moral differences between social settings in the real world,
Professor John Schneider
PHI 102
6 April 2015
The Ethics of Care The Ethics of Care is defined as the feminist approach on the view that men and women approach morality in very different ways: with men stressing principles, and women stress more on emotions when making a moral choice (John Schneider, Lecture: Ethics of Care). The main proposals of the Ethics of Care were presented by Carol Gilligan, a psychologist who focused on how women differ in how they approach ethical issues compared to men. Gilligan proposes that women are more likely to solve moral problems by feelings like empathy, compassion, or loving care rather than a more deontological approach used commonly with men. This ethical theory is often seen in the medical field. Suppose a patient undergoing cancer treatment is under excruciating pain. However, pain medication may not be administered to the patient because of an unknown precaution put in place for the nurses to abide. A male nurse would look at this situation and not give the distressed patient the pain medication because there is a rule in place saying that the patient cannot receive the medication. A female nurse may look at the situation differently though. The pain that the patient is in might give the nurse a sense of empathy for the patient, causing the female nurse to not abide by the rules and give the patient the medication to relieve the pain.
Later in our reading, Allison Jaggar gives a feminist approach to ethics termed feminist ethics. This approach focuses on correcting male biases that are perceived in traditional ethics that usually lead to rationalizations and stereotypes of the moral experiences of women (Pojman and Vaughn, 443). The main point of feminist ethics is the extra emphasis on how the social relationships we have affect our ethical choices and responsibilities. According class PowerPoint’s, “Feminist Ethics calls attention to moral differences between social settings in the real world,