The Ethics of Care: Personal, Political, and Global

by Virginia Held

Virginia Held assesses the ethics of care as a promising alternative to the familiar moral theories that serve so inadequately to guide our lives. The ethics of care is only a few decades old, yet it is by now a distinct moral theory or normative approach to the problems we face. It is relevant to global and political matters as well as to the personal relations that can most clearly exemplify care.

This book clarifies just what the ethics of care what its characteristics are, what it holds, and what it enables us to do. It discusses the feminist roots of this moral approach and why the ethics of care can be a morality with universal appeal. Held examines what we mean by "care," and what a caring person is like. Where other moral theories demand impartiality above all, the ethics of care understands the moral import of our ties to our families and groups. It evaluates such ties, focusing on caring relations rather than simply on the virtues of individuals. The book proposes how such values as justice, equality, and individual rights can "fit together" with such values as care, trust, mutual consideration, and solidarity.

In the second part of the book, Held examines the potential of the ethics of care for dealing with social issues. She shows how the ethics of care is more promising than Kantian moral theory and utilitarianism for advice on how expansive, or not, markets should be, and on when other values than market ones should prevail. She connects the ethics of care with the rising interest in civil society, and considers the limits appropriate for the language of rights. Finally, she shows the promise of the ethics of care for dealing with global problems and seeing anew the outlines of international civility.

Genres: Philosophy, Nonfiction, Feminism, Sociology, Theory, Womens

220 pages, Hardcover

First published November 24, 2005

About the author

Virginia Potter Held (born October 28, 1929) is a leading moral, social/political and feminist philosopher whose work on the ethics of care sparked significant research into the ethical dimensions of providing care for others and critiques of the traditional roles of women in society. Held defends care ethics as a distinct moral framework from Kantian, utilitarian and virtue ethics. Held's work on the morality of political violence viewed through the window of ethics of care has also been significantly influential.

Held was named Distinguished Professor at the City University of New York – Graduate Center and Hunter College in 1996, received her Ph.D. in philosophy from Columbia University in 1968 and worked at Hunter College as lecturer (1965–69), assistant professor (1969–72), associate professor (1973–77) and full professor from 1977 to her retirement in 2001. She was affiliated with the CUNY Graduate Center in 1973, and served as deputy executive officer of the Philosophy program at the CUNY Graduate Center from 1980–1984. She also served as president of the Eastern Division of the American Philosophical Association in 2001–2002.

(from Wikipedia)

Reviews

[Zineb · Rating 3 out of 5]

كتاب يدور حول فكرة محورية هي التفرقة بين نظريات الاخلاقية التقليدية (اخلاق الكانطية، اخلاف النفعية،أخلاق العدالة وأخلاق الفضيلة) التي لم تعد فاعلة في توجيه حياة البشر، تستعرض الكاتبة أخلاق العناية كمبحث جديد في باب فلسفة الأخلاق التي عمرها الفلسفي بضع عقود فقط، وهي مدة تحتاج إلى المزيد من البحث والتطوير لإثبات وجودها مع باقي الأخلاق.
تري الكاتبة أن أخلاق العناية تعير الانتباه و تقدر انفعالات أخلاقية كالاعتناق العاطفي و الاهتمام المشترك، فهي لا تقتصر على الاطار الشخصي و لكنها يقترح اجوبة بخصوص سياسات العمل و عدم التمييز و تسوية النفقات في المؤسسات المدنية .فالمجتمع الذي تقوم حكومته بممارساتها الاعتنائية بتلبية حاجات اعضائها سوف تستهلك قدرا اقل من من مواردها و انتباهها الى افعال غير القانونية . هنا نعرف أن أخلاق العناية هي ما نقوم به من خدمات تجاه من يعجزون عن القيام بها بأنفسهم.
كما ان الكتاب يقرأ بشكل النقاشات والتطورات المهمة التي حدثت في الفلسفة الأخلاقية النسوية عقود الاخيرة خاصة ان معظم خطبات النسوية تدعم اخلاق العناية .

[Bryan Kibbe · Rating 4 out of 5]

Virginia Held is an exceptionally sharp thinker and her intelligence is conveyed in this sophisticated and thoughtful articulation of an ethics of care. In particular, Held does a good job disrupting stereotypes and mischaracterizations of the ethics of care as a diminished form of ethical reasoning, and instead conveys the moral richness and resources latent within caring relationships that are the bedrock of society. Particularly useful in this book is Held's contextualization of the ethics of care relative to other prominent ethical discourses, in particular I am thinking of those discourses that emphasize distributive justice. Which speaks to another advantage of this book, Held published this book in 2006, and it usefully reads as a book that is mindful of important debates and developments that have occurred in feminist moral philosophy over the past 30 years. Thus, for a good contemporary orientation to at least one strain of modern moral philosophy, I would highly recommend this book.

[Ahmed Faiq · Rating 4 out of 5]

من علامات تطور الجنس البشري، ومع ظهور انواع تكنلوجية جديدة وعلوم الفيزياء والفلك، كذلك اذا اراد القارئ ان يبحث فهناك ايضا علوم فلسفية جديدة، وعلامات تظهر كيف ان البشر تطورا لا علميا فقط، وانما ايضا خلاقيا وفلسفيا، ومن اهم النظريات الجديدة في فلسفة الاخلاق ظهرت اخلاق العناية.
والمقصود باخلاق العناية هو دراسة القيم المتضمنة في فعل العناية، العناية التي هي من اهم احتياجات الانسان، حيث ان كل فرد في المجتمع البشري يحتاج الى العناية باشكالها المتعددة منذ اليوم الاول الاول للولادة وحتى ان يصبح فردا ناضجا، كذلك فان العناية تبقى من الضروريات حتى بعد البلوغ، لتطوير العلاقات الاجتماعية، وفي ظروف اخرى مثل المرض والاعاقة والكبر في السن.
يضم هذا الكتاب شرحا وتوضيحا لهذا الجانب الاخلاقي، الذي نشأ في الغرب قبل عقود قليلة، على أيدي فلاسفة اكثر يتبعون التيار النسوي، الذي تنتمي اليه الكاتبة فيرجينيا هيلد، وتم نشر كتابها هذا ضمن سلسلة عالم المعرف، بترجمة علمية حرفية ودقيقة.
حتما سوف يواجه القارئ غير المتخصص بعض الصعوبات اثناء الابحار مع هذا الكتاب القيم، الا ان الموضوع مهم جدا وضروري، وخاصة لمن يحتاجون العناية ضمن مجالات عملهم وتخصصاتهم.

[Diana · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars

I had to read parts of this for my Ethics class, I liked what I read but some parts of it didn't gel for me. I think once the semester is over I'll pick this up and give it a re-read and hopefully once I read the whole thing I'll have a better understanding of what she was trying to say.

[mwr · Rating 3 out of 5]

Perhaps as good an introduction to care ethics as you can get in one way specifically -- she cites many people on each issue and characterizes their position. It gives the reader an excellent lay of the land and points one to others to be read. At the same time, so much space is dedicated to this that her positive positions still feel exploratory and underdeveloped. A great deal of, 'to be satisfactory as an ethical theory, care ethics must avoid these scyllas and these charybdises,' and less 'here's the path we went through to get where we are going and now we are here.

[Malek Atia · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5

[الشناوي محمد جبر · Rating 2 out of 5]

كتاب يدور حول فكرة محورية هي التفرقة بين الأخلاق المثالية والأخلاق العملية وأخلاق العناية كمبحث جديد في باب فلسفة الأخلاق. تشير الكاتبة أن أخلاق العناية عمرها الفلسفي بضعو عقود فقط، وهي مدة يحتاج معها إلي مزيد من البحث والتطوير لإثبات وجوده بجوار باقي أبواب فلسفة الأخلاق.
تري الكاتبة أن التركيز الأساسي لأخلاق العناية هو علي الصمت الأخلاقي نحو الاهتمام وتلبية الحاجات للأشخاص الذين نتولي مسؤليتهم.
ما تقوم به المرأة تجاه أطفالها من الاعتناء بهم يدخل في باب الأخلاق، وما تقوم به تجاه زوجها المريض أيضا داخل في باب أخلاق العناية، أما ما تقوم به تجاه أبناءها الكبار من تجهيز لملابسهم التي يمكنهم تجهيزها بأنفسهم، وإعداد طعام زوجها الذي يمكنه إعداده بنفسه؛ هذا ليس داخلا في باب أخلاق العناية، بل يدخل في باب الخدمات التي تؤديها الأم مختارة تجاه أسرتها.
هنا نعرف أن أخلاق العناية هي ما نقوم به من خدمات تجاه من يعجزون عن القيام بها بأنفسهم.
أخلاق العناية وأخلاق العدالة وأخلاق الفضيلة هناك فارق بينها كما تقول الكاتبة.

[Kyra · Rating 1 out of 5]

A literature review trying to be an argument.

[Joshua R. Taylor]

Presented a different definition of 'care' and 'ethics of care' than I bargained for.

Sees ethical behaviour focused around the unchosen relationships that we are bound to by birth and require our self-sacrifice. Less focus on the relationships that we choose and enrich our lives through mutual benefit. The former definition put me off reading more since I do not personally value these kinds of relationships.

[Cayden Kirkpatrick · Rating 3 out of 5]

Definitely a thought-provoking ethic and reveals some interesting questions. This book though was too hand-wavy at times and presumed the superiority of its own ideas without giving much of a positive reason to be believe it’s right (aside from the repeated idea that to survive humans need care so care must be prior to justice which feels far too limited to me)

[Vítor Medeiros · Rating 3 out of 5]

I disagree with a lot of Held's reasoning, but her contributions to the ethics of care are undeniable and constructive at their worst, and absolutely crucial at their best.

[Jake Underwood · Rating 4 out of 5]

5-star ethics, 3-star book, 4-star rating

[Chris · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow, a very challenging and thought provoking book

[Ladyfilosopher · Rating 5 out of 5]

our Zoom book group is open to new participants. As of Feb '25 we are just beginning chap 3. Our conversations include material that we have read that has been published since this book was printed.
The first chapter was pretty heavy because full of material, concepts, and so many footnotes which seem quite important to the text. Chap 2 has had a singular mandate that is interesting for my work colleagues to explore.
Currently I am on p 44 at the bottom of the page. This is the beginning of chapter 3.
The concept of charity became a point I had much to say about in the margins and in my notepad.
There is so much vocabulary that we have to challenge and revamp our attitudes towards.