by Ayesha Gautam
In the history of
moral philosophy ethics of justice or public reason advanced by liberal
tradition and the ethics of care as advanced by feminists has been percieved to
be at loggerheads with each other. There are various criticism which has been
levelled by proponents of ethics of care against the ethics of justice. My
endeavor in this paper would be to advance the criticisms put forth by care
ethics proponents against ethics of justice proponents and to show how the
version of capability approach advanced by Martha Nussbaum has been able to
take care of these criticisms thereby advancing an approach which is truly
humanistic in the sense that it gives importance to both the virtue of justice as well as the virtue of care.
Let me begin by
advancing the criticism put forth by care ethics proponents against ethics of
justice. There are three charges feminists have commonly
leveled against the ethics of justice advanced by liberal tradition:
•
The first criticism is that the ethics
of justice is too ‘individualistic’. The language of ethics of justice pushes
us to see the participant in moral practice as single clamorous individuals. An ethics of care on
the other hand examines moral issues, values, and problems discernible in human
relationships. It values connections between individuals as against excessive
individualism of liberal moral theories. Empathy, sensitivity and attention to
particular aspects of persons and their needs become important. (Carol
Gilligan, In a Different Voice: Psychological Theory and Women’s Development
(Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press,1982
•
The
second criticism advanced is that the ideal of equality advanced by proponents
of ethics of justice is too abstract and formal; ethics of justice promotes a
formal equality of treatment and in the process abstracts from a real asymmetry
of power. Ethics of justice insists on identical treatment for all ; for women and men, regardless of their different
location in the social hierarchy. Ethics of care proponents however insists
that one should also take care of the background inequalities. Impartiality and
equality which was the distinguishing and defining feature of morality in
ethics of justice was criticized as being counterintuitive to the moral sense
of women.
•
The third significant criticism advanced
by care ethics proponents against ethics of justice is that the emphasis ethics
of justice places on reason underplays the significance of care and emotion in
moral and political life. Feminist
attention to relations in the family and to the values of care and connection
has also called attention to different kinds of interdependencies which are
generally ignored by liberal traditions.
Having given an insight into the three
commonly leveled criticisms against ethics of justice, let me now place
Nussbaum’s position in context of these criticisms. The first criticism
advanced is that ethics of justice is very individualistic. Nussbaum can be
said to have taken care of this criticism when she takes cue for her approach
from Grotius’s natural theory approach. Put very simply, this approach holds
that the way to begin, when we think about fundamental principles, is to think
of the human being as a creature characterized both by dignity or moral worth
and by sociability: by “an impelling desire for fellowship. Among the list of 10 capabilities,
Nussbaum also lists the capability which states the capability of being able to
live with and toward others, to recognize and show concern for other human
beings, to engage in various forms of social interaction; to be able to imagine
the situation of another. Second criticism advanced against ethics of justice
is that it gives too much importance to equality and the ideal of equality
advanced by them is formal and abstract not taking care of the various
inequalities which one encounters in day to day life. Nussbaum can be said to have
taken care of this criticism in the four frontiers of justice which she
discusses at length in her works. As a criticism against social contract theory
, Nussbaum has argued that there theory of justice has not been able to handle
four problems; justice owed to people with disabilities, justice owed across
national boundaries, justice owed to other species and justice owed to nature. By taking up these
issues, Nussbaum has clearly shown that one ought to take care of these
inequalities in their theory of morality. As regards the third criticism according
to which ethics of justice gives more emphasis to reason thereby underplaying
the significance of care and emotion, one can opine that Nussbaum has aptly
taken care of this criticism also in her work by giving importance to the
virtue of care and emotion along with that of rationality and justice. In her
list of the central human capabilities, Nussbaum has created space for such
virtues as emotions, senses, imagination and thought. Moreover in her work, Nussbaum
wants to know the capabilities that lead to a 'truly human' life. It can be
opined here that the capabilities that would lead to a truly human life are
also the ones that ethics of care would want to know and support. This becomes
clear when one looks at the definition of care advanced by ethics of care
proponents.
The care that is valued by the ethics
of care can – and to be justifiable must – include caring for distant others in
an interdependent world, and caring that the rights of all are respected and
their needs met. It must include caring that the environment in which embodied
human beings reside is well cared for. The ethics of care will strive to
achieve these transformations in society and the world nonviolently and democratically
but with persistence {Virginia Held, The Ethics of Care: Personal, Political,
and Global, 2006, p66}
Brian Orend in his work has also opined that, “care for
others means sympathizing with them and supporting them, helping them develop
their skills, being committed to a personal connection with them based on trust
and mutual respect, taking on responsibility to do what one can to ensure their
well-being.” (Orend, B., 2002. Human Rights: Concept and Context.
Peterborough, ON: Broadview pg 17)
.
To conclude it can be opined that the
two approaches i.e., ethics of care and the capability approach seem to share
the common goal, which is promoting truly human lives.
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