Moral Boundaries: A Political Argument for an Ethic of Care PDF
Preview Moral Boundaries: A Political Argument for an Ethic of Care
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
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