Journal article
From care ethics to pluralist care theory: The state of the field
Philosophy compass, v 17(4), pn/a
Apr 2022
Abstract
In a moment where needs for care are acute and their provision precarious, feminist care ethics has gained new relevance as a framework for understanding and responding to necessary interdependence. This article reviews and evaluates two long-standing critiques of care ethics in light of this recent research. First, I assess what I call the pluralist feminist critique, or the dispute over the ability of care ethics to address the needs and histories of a range of marginalized subjects. I identify two forms of this critique: the first disputes the biased starting points shaping the development of the theory, and the second concerns the weaponization of care in support of domination. Although these critiques are well-established, I draw attention to recent responses that move care theory in generative directions. I argue that the pluralist feminist critique demands both self-critical transformation in dialog with other feminist schools of thought and a robust account of care ethics' normative authority. I then take up critiques those levied by mainstream ethicists concerned with care theory's adequacy as an ethical approach. I show that recent work on normative authority, conceptual uniqueness, and the grounding of responsibility must be engaged before care theory can be dismissed as "under-theorized." In articulating these two sets of critiques and evaluating recent rebuttals to them, I argue for a pluralist feminist theory of care within which strands informed by varying philosophical schools and methods can coexist.
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Details
- Title
- From care ethics to pluralist care theory: The state of the field
- Creators
- Mercer E. Gary - Pennsylvania State University
- Publication Details
- Philosophy compass, v 17(4), pn/a
- Publisher
- Wiley
- Number of pages
- 15
- Grant note
- Forrest Crawford Fellowship in Ethical Inquiry at the Rock Ethics Institute of The Pennsylvania State University
- Resource Type
- Journal article
- Language
- English
- Academic Unit
- English and Philosophy
- Web of Science ID
- WOS:000765168900001
- Scopus ID
- 2-s2.0-85125637039
- Other Identifier
- 991021861657204721
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- Web of Science research areas
- Philosophy