Human as relation: An exploration of the ethics of care

This essay describes the ethics of care, a philosophical theory originally born out of psychological studies on development. For much of psychological history, women were seen to be ‘less developed’ on standardized tests of morality. In response, Carol Gilligan produced a study that examined how women’s conceptions of moral responsibility differ from men, especially in terms of care, connection, and interdependence. This relationality has been developed into a complex ethical theory which this paper opposes against consequentialism and Kantian ethics; two ethical theories that instead favour impersonality. Further, it is argued that not only is unequal interdependence central to human experience; it is also a natural human drive to care for ourselves and the people closest to us. Ethical theories that oppose this fail to serve their purpose in providing a framework that is possible for humans to follow and must make concessions or sub- justifications to avoid complete alienation in their followers. With two case examples, this essay establishes the ethics of care within the psychological development framework and argues for its superiority as compared to impersonal ethical theories.