DOCSLIB.ORG

M O R a L Boundaries

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
M O R a L Boundaries M O R A L BOUNDARIES M 0 R A L BOUNDARIES A Political Argument for an Ethic of Care Joan C. Tronto ROUTLEDGE New York• London Published in r993 by Routledge An imprint of Routledge, Chapman and Hall, Inc. 29 West 3 5 Street New York, NY 10001 Published in Great Britain by Routledge 1 I New Fetter Lane London EC4P 4EE Copyright@ 1993 by Routledge, Chapman and Hall, Inc. Cover art: Thomas Cole, The Voyage of Life: Childhood, Ailsa Melon Bruce Fund, ©1993, National Gallery of Art, Washington. Printed in the United States on acid free paper. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilized in any form or by any electronic, mechanical or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers. Library of Congress Cataloging-in Publication Data Tronto,Joan C. Moral boundaries: a political argument for an ethic of care / Joan C. Tronto p. cm. Includes index (p. ). ISBN o-4r5-90641-5 (acid-free paper) ISBN 0-415-90642-3 (pbk.: acid-free paper) 1. Feminism-Moral and ethical aspects. 2. Caring­ Moral and ethical aspects. 3. Sex role 4. Women-Attitudes I. Title. HQ1206.T75 1993 305.42-dc20 93-10700 CIP British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data also available. To My Parents To the Staff, Doctors and Nurses of the Westchester County Medical Center To My Sisters, Brothers-In-Law, Nephews and Niece To My Relatives, Friends, Lovers and Colleagues Who Have Cared and Shared With Me CONTENTS PREFACE PART ONE: Introduction Chapter 1: Moral Boundaries and Political Change I The Power of Context and the Context of Power • Three Moral Boundaries • Women's Morality As a Strategic Predicament • Argument of This Book PART Two: Against "Women's Morality" Chapter 2: Universalistic Morality and Moral Sentiments 2 5 Morality and Forms of Life • Universalistic Morality and Eighteenth Century Life • Social Distance and the Demise of Moral Sentiments • The Containment of Women and the Engendering of Moral Sentiment • Lessons for an Ethic of Care Chapter 3: Is Morality Gendered? 6r Lawrence Kohlberg: The Virtuous Elite • Carol Gilligan's Different Voice and its Limits • Gender l'cieology and Forms of Privilege At Work PART THREE: For An Ethic of Care Chapter 4: Care IOI Defining Care • Marginalizing Care • The Promise of Care: Care's Power Vtt Chapter 5: An Ethic of Care I 2 7 The Practice of An Ethic of Care • Moral Dilemmas in the Practice of Care • Expanding Our Moral Terrain • Ethics and Politics Chapter 6: Care and Political Theory r 57 Against a "Morality First" Strategy • Care As a Political Ideal o Care And Political Strategy • Moral Boundaries and a Political Concept of Care NOTES I8I INDEX 2r9 viii PREFACE As an American who came of age while the United States waged war in Southeast Asia, I have long wondered how my fellow citizens could meet questions of profound global and domestic injustice with acquiescence. In a society structured by racism and sexism, where only lip service is paid to the dignity of ordinary people and workers, I ended my own pas­ sivity by becoming active in the feminist movement. Feminism for me embodied a concern with justice and celebrated the ordinary lives of women, children, and men from all races, religions, and ethnic backgrounds. I chose to become a political theorist because I thought it would help me to make sense of the world. Given the sense of urgency to understand the world that impelled me to study politics, I am often disappointed by how tame and irrelevant "theory" becomes for those who live outside of academe. In this book I obviously write as a political theorist to others ( within the academy, but I hope as well to write to the women and men who are looking for another way to understand and to act against the continued injustices of our world. In one sense, the feminist movement is a part of the global wave of movements for liberation that have marked the second half of the twentieth century. Theorists within these movements have often built their claims for justice on pre-existing social IX MORAL BOUNDARIES theories. Feminist theorists are not alone in feeling that the old paradigms cannot adequately describe the realities that exist and that require transformation. Most of us who devote our time to thinking about these questions would agree that there needs to be a shift in our vision, so that we can see the world differently. While I do not offer a complete alternative in this book, my hope is to provide a glimpse into a different world, one where the daily caring of people for each other is a valued premise of human existence. I have used the metaphor of boundaries deliberately. To call attention to moral boundaries raises two sets of questions, both of which inform what I try to do in this book. The first question is strategic: by noticing boundaries, we notice what they include and exclude. What shall we do if we wish to change what is included and excluded by them? The second question is visionary: what alternative vision informs our account of what moral life should be? My answer to this ques­ tion is simple: our account of moral life should provide us with a way to respect and deal justly with others. In order to do so, we must honor what most people spend their lives doing: caring for themselves, for others, and for the world. In this glimpse into an alternative vision of life, one cen­ tered on human care and interdependence, questions of gender and other categories of social life that structure our realities, such as race and class, remain pivotal. In most societies, care work is distributed by gender, by caste and class, and often, by race and ethnicity as well. In this book I lay the ground for more thorough descriptions and analyses of the actual prac­ tices of caring in various societies. I invite readers to think about the application of my account of care to their own lives, to their own situations, and to their own societies. My work may not seem revolutionary to those for whom it describes daily life. I start from assumptions about the need for a liberal, democratic, pluralistic society in order for all humans to flourish. In this regard, I part company with some X PREFACE feminist theorists who have turned away from traditional political analyses, who find the liberal democratic state cor­ rupted, or who have moved towards romanticized commit­ ments to community. Yet a radical argument exists within this framework; even conventional liberal thought will be transformed if we take caring seriously. I have learned so much from my teachers at Oberlin College and Princeton University, from my colleagues and students at Bowdoin College and (for the past ten years) at Hunter College, from my activist and academic friends, and from my family, that I cannot possibly acknowledge everyone's contri­ bution to my thinking. Nevertheless I would be remiss if I did not specifically mention some people whose influences on this book have been profound. Berenice Fisher and I spent a great deal of time thinking together about caring. Our jointly published ideas play a cen­ tral conceptual role in this book. I believe that her contribution to our mutual work was much greater than mine; I am forever indebted to her for her intellectual generosity and supportive friendship. Mary Dietz has indulged my endless discussions of these questions with the kindness and critical perspective that make her my most valued friend. She helped me especially to clarify the arguments of the book; she also sometimes rescued me from overstating my positions. Most of this book was written while I served as a Research Associate at the Beatrice M. Bain Research Group at the University of California at Berkeley. I am grateful to them and to Hunter College for their institutional. support. Laura Stoker, Dianne Sadoff, Susan Okin, Molly Shanley, and Mark Tunick also provided comments on some earlier drafts of chapters and related papers. I have presented my work wherever someone was kind enough to invite me to speak: special thanks for such opportunities go to Jennifer Nedelsky at the University of Toronto Law School, Selma Sevenhuijsen at the University of Utrecht, Valeria Russo at the European University Institute, the xi MORAL BOUNDARIES Beatrice M. Bain Research Group and the Jurisprudence and Social Policy Program at the University of California at Berkeley, Pomona College, Susan Okin at Stanford University, and Patricia Benner at the University of California at San Francisco. Over the years many students have helped me with research tasks. Cecelia Cancellaro and the staff at Routledge have been encour­ aging and patient. Christine Trost prepared the index. One comes to appreciate care best by being involved in rela­ tionships of care. In this regard, I owe more than I can express to my parents, Eugene and Leah Tronto, to my sisters Eloise and Susan and their families: Fred, Janette, and Curtis Arnemann, and Andy, Ben and AJ Seitz; to Annmarie Levins, to Trish Hastings; and to my dear friends Kenneth Sherrill, Gerald Otte, Berenice Fisher, Linda Marks, Melanie Fife, Susan Koen, Barbara Beckelmann, Scott Sawyer, and Mary Dietz. I literally owe my life to the care I received from the staff, doctors, and nurses of the Westchester County Medical Center. I hope that readers will find this book an opening to exciting possibilities for revaluing what is important in human life and how we might move towards a more just world that embodies good caring.
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Ethics of Care: Personal, Political, and Global / Virginia Held
    The Ethics of Care: Personal, Political, and Global Virginia Held OXFORD UNIVERSITY PRESS THE ETHICS OF CARE This page intentionally left blank THE ETHICS OF CARE Personal, Political, and Global Virginia Held 1 2006 1 Oxford University Press, Inc., publishes works that further Oxford University’s objective of excellence in research, scholarship, and education. Oxford New York Auckland Cape Town Dar es Salaam Hong Kong Karachi Kuala Lumpur Madrid Melbourne Mexico City Nairobi New Delhi Shanghai Taipei Toronto With offices in Argentina Austria Brazil Chile Czech Republic France Greece Guatemala Hungary Italy Japan Poland Portugal Singapore South Korea Switzerland Thailand Turkey Ukraine Vietnam Copyright Ó 2006 by Oxford University Press, Inc. Published by Oxford University Press, Inc. 198 Madison Avenue, New York, New York 10016 www.oup.com Oxford is a registered trademark of Oxford University Press All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior permission of Oxford University Press. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Held, Virginia. The ethics of care: personal, political, and global / Virginia Held. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN-13 978-0-19-518099-2 ISBN 0-19-518099-2 1. Caring. 2. Feminist ethics. I. Title. BJ1475.H45 2005 177'.7—dc22 2005040551 987654321 Printed in the United States of America on acid-free paper For my grandchildren Alexander, Owen, Madeleine, Kailey, and Nicolas This page intentionally left blank Acknowledgments Since the publication of my book Feminist Morality: Transforming Culture, Society, and Politics in 1993, I became persuaded that the ethics of care I began to examine there merited further development.
    [Show full text]
  • Politics, Human Flourishing, and Bodily Knowing: a Critical Theory of Embodied Care
    Politics, Human Flourishing, and Bodily Knowing: A Critical Theory of Embodied Care Hollie Sue Mann A dissertation submitted to the faculty of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in the Department of Political Science. Chapel Hill 2010 Approved by: Susan Bickford Maxine Eichner Jeff Spinner-Halev Michael Linenesch Andrew Perrin Joan Tronto “The really important kind of freedom involves attention, and awareness, and discipline, and effort, and being able truly to care about other people and to sacrifice for them, over and over, in myriad petty little unsexy ways, every day." --David Foster Wallace For my parents, Sue and Steve Mann. And for Brendan. ii ABSTRACT Hollie Mann: Politics, Human Flourishing, and Bodily Knowing: A Critical Theory of Embodied Care (Under the direction of Susan Bickford and Jeff Spinner-Halev) This project investigates the relationship between human flourishing, politics and care. I consider how politics can stifle or foster citizens‟ potential to attain and practice the virtue of care and why this matters for politics. In this work, I make three principal contributions to our study of care: First, we must begin to see care as more than a means to other ends. Care not only helps us achieve political ends like autonomy, justice, and equality, but it is also an activity that should be done for its own sake. Second, the best citizen is a caring one, a claim that contrasts deeply with conventional understandings of citizenship, both ancient and modern. Others have articulated care‟s importance to democratic citizenship, but what we need now is a more capacious understanding of what it takes to create a caring subject and what political work is required to sustain citizens‟ practices of care.
    [Show full text]
  • Caring Democracy This Page Intentionally Left Blank Caring Democracy
    Caring Democracy This page intentionally left blank Caring Democracy Markets, Equality, and Justice Joan C. Tronto a NEW YORK UNIVERSITY PRESS New York and London NEW YORK UNIVERSITY PRESS New York and London www.nyupress.org © 2013 by New York University All rights reserved Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Tronto, Joan C., 1952– Caring democracy : markets, equality, and justice / Joan C. Tronto. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 978-0-8147-8277-4 (cl : alk. paper) — ISBN 978-0-8147-8278-1 (pb : alk. paper) — ISBN 978-0-8147-7045-0 (e-book) — ISBN 978-0-8147-7034-4 (e-book) 1. Caring. 2. Democracy. 3. Equality. 4. Social justice. I. Title. BJ1475.T76 2013 306.2 — dc23 2012043770 References to Internet websites (URLs) were accurate at the time of writing. Neither the author nor New York University Press is responsible for URLs that may have expired or changed since the manuscript was prepared. New York University Press books are printed on acid-free paper, and their binding materials are chosen for strength and durability. We strive to use environmentally responsible suppliers and materials to the greatest extent possible in publishing our books. Manufactured in the United States of America c 10987654321 p 10987654321 In memory of my parents This page intentionally left blank Contents Preface ix Acknowledgments xvii Introduction: When Care Is No Longer “at Home” 1 Part I: Envisioning a Caring Democracy 1 Redefining Democracy as Settling Disputes about Care Responsibilities 17 2 Why Personal Responsibility Isn’t Enough for Democracy 46 Part II: How We Care Now 3 Tough Guys Don’t Care .
    [Show full text]
  • PHIL 3510 Syllabus Winter 2012
    PHIL 3510: FEMINIST APPROACHES TO ETHICS AND POLITICS WINTER 2012 Course Director: A. MacLachlan Class Location: CLH 110 Office: S418 Ross Class Time: Thurs, 4pm-7pm Office Hours: Tues, 3-5pm Email: [email protected] Phone: (416) 736 2100 x77587 COURSE DESCRIPTION: This course examines recent feminist writings in ethics and political philosophy. We will discuss criteria for what qualifies as a “feminist” ethical theory, and will examine several candidates. Topics include the gendered nature of value, the relationship between justice and care, reproductive autonomy, sexual violence, sex work and global injustice. COURSE READINGS: All course readings are available as links on the course Moodle site, or in the PHIL 3510 coursepack, available in the York University Bookstore. You are expected to come to class having read and reflected on the readings, and be prepared to respond and discuss the author’s position, arguments and examples. I will clarify any confusion, answer your questions and guide our class conversations. Those readings listed under “Further Readings” are not required, but they may assist you with your essay, or help if you are particularly interested in the week’s topic. If more than two readings are assigned for a given week, two will be very short/accessible. COURSE LEARNING OBJECTIVES: At the end of this course: 1. You will be able to engage in contemporary debates in feminist ethics and political philosophy, and to identify and evaluate the insights, values and theories underlying various positions in those debates. 2. You will be able to think critically about the relationships between philosophical ethics, feminist theory, and gender politics, and to apply that thinking to concrete topics such as sexual and reproductive ethics, institutions of marriage and family, gendered violence and global justice 3.
    [Show full text]
  • Politics, Human Flourishing, and Bodily Knowing: a Critical Theory of Embodied Care
    View metadata, citation and similar papers at core.ac.uk brought to you by CORE provided by Carolina Digital Repository Politics, Human Flourishing, and Bodily Knowing: A Critical Theory of Embodied Care Hollie Sue Mann A dissertation submitted to the faculty of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in the Department of Political Science. Chapel Hill 2010 Approved by: Susan Bickford Maxine Eichner Jeff Spinner-Halev Michael Linenesch Andrew Perrin Joan Tronto “The really important kind of freedom involves attention, and awareness, and discipline, and effort, and being able truly to care about other people and to sacrifice for them, over and over, in myriad petty little unsexy ways, every day." --David Foster Wallace For my parents, Sue and Steve Mann. And for Brendan. ii ABSTRACT Hollie Mann: Politics, Human Flourishing, and Bodily Knowing: A Critical Theory of Embodied Care (Under the direction of Susan Bickford and Jeff Spinner-Halev) This project investigates the relationship between human flourishing, politics and care. I consider how politics can stifle or foster citizens‟ potential to attain and practice the virtue of care and why this matters for politics. In this work, I make three principal contributions to our study of care: First, we must begin to see care as more than a means to other ends. Care not only helps us achieve political ends like autonomy, justice, and equality, but it is also an activity that should be done for its own sake. Second, the best citizen is a caring one, a claim that contrasts deeply with conventional understandings of citizenship, both ancient and modern.
    [Show full text]
  • FANON: a Critical Reader
    FANON: A Critical Reader Lewis R. Gordon, T. Denean Sharpley-Whiting and Renee T. White 1 Fanon: A Critical Reader BLACKWELL CRITICAL READERS Blackwell's Critical Readers series presents a collection of linked perspec­ tives on continental philosophers, social and cultural theorists. Edited and introduced by acknowledged experts and written by representa­ tives of different schools and positions, the series embodies debate, dissent and a committed heterodoxy. From Foucault to Derrida, from Heidegger to Nietzsche, Blackwell Critical Readers address figureswhose work requires elucidation by a variety of perspectives. Volumes in the series include both primary and secondary bibliographies. David Wood: Dem'da: A Cn'tical Reader Hubert Dreyfus and Harrison Hall: Heidegger: A Critical Reader Gregory Elliot: Althusser: A Cn:tical Reader Douglas Kellner: Baudrillard: A Critical Reader Peter Sedgwick: Nietzsche: A Critical Reader Lewis R Gordon, T. Denean Sharpley-Whiting, and Renee T. White: Fanon: A Critical Reader Fanon: A Critical Reader Edited, with an Introduction and Translations by Lewis R. Gordon T. Dene an Sharpley-Whiting Renee T. White Copyright © Blackwell Publishers, 1996 First published 1996 2 4 6 8 10 9 7 5 3 1 Blackwell Publishers Ltd 108 Cowley Road Oxford OX4 lJF UK Blackwell Publishers Inc. 238 Main Street Cambridge, Massachusetts 02142 USA All rights reserved. Except for the quotation of short passages for the purposes of criticism and review, no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior permission of the publisher.
    [Show full text]