An Ethic of Care

In the 1970s Carole Gilligan undertook a study of moral decision-making in real-life situations. Her results contested a widely accepted model of moral development as the autonomous self speaking the voice of justice. Published in 1982, In A Different Voice proposed a new model of moral reasoning based on care, arguing that it better described the moral life of women. An immediate centre of controversy, In A Different Voice launched the ethic of care as a field of study. An Ethic of Care is the first volume to bring together key contributions to the extensive debate engaging Gilligan's work. It provides the highlights of an impassioned discussion of the ethic of care, drawing on the literature of a wide range of disciplines that have entered the debate. The volume gives particular attention to the debates around feminist ethics; to the empirical studies within pyschology that examine Gilligan's allegations of sex differences in moral reasoning; and to claims that Gilligan's work is specific of white-American culture. It includes an essay by Gilligan herself in which she replies to some of her critics.