Ethics of Care and Justice - Essay Example

? Ethics of Care and Justice This paper concerns itself with explaining Virginia Held’s concept of ethics of care while comparing it with her views on the morals of justice. The paper also tries to relate the views on ethics held by Virginia Held on the memoir by Jeanette walls. The paper basically expounds on Held’s views on the principles of care as the primary moral principle, valuing emotions in favor of reason and valuation of partiality rather than impartiality while focusing on private relationships as opposed to relationships in the public realm. The paper also tries to ascertain whether people are relational and self-governing rather than being independent along with autonomous. Virginia held comprehends that the principles of care as comprising of “caring relations” and not just emotions (Held 23). She additionally states that the ethics of caring do not just basically rely on emotions but involves the practices of caring for the needy in the society by the caregivers. According Virginia Held, the rights of humans begin with ethical responses to oppressions that have been experienced historically. She says that in “order for them to become operational they must be developed into institutional mechanisms that function effectively to mobilize social resources to protect the vulnerable” (Held 47). Therefore, this implies that the morals of care thus form the principal base for the morals on human rights which are safeguarded by the morals of justice (Held 67). The morals of care value emotions like “sympathy, empathy, sensitivity and responsiveness and emphasizes on the responsibility of responding to the needs of the dependent” (Held 119). The author comprehends the issue of care as comprising of “caring relations” for the needy and not just in terms of their emotions. Held values the morals of care as partial rather than impartial by suggesting that “ the ethics of care offers a distinct approach to the ethical theory, one that compliments an ethics of justice that emphasizes the concepts of fairness and rights but does not reduce to it” ( Held 116). Virginia Held also argues that the morals of care have a lot to talk about concerning moral relationships within the private spheres of the family along with their personal friends (Held 146). Finally, Held perceives people as being “relational and interdependent, morally and epistemologically” just like the morals of responsibility (Held 148). This is mainly because the theory put forward mainly perceives humans as being individualistic. On the contrary, the morals of justice differ from the morals of care since it emphasizes on the issues of fairness and human rights unlike the latter which emphasizes on the individuals emotions (Walls, p.176). It does not emphasize on handling the individual emotions but on promoting fairness despite the emotions attached to the issue under consideration (Robinson 135). The morals of justice additionally differ from the morals of care since they consider reasons rather than an individual’s emotions and are keen on ensuring that justice prevails in all situations (Walls 178). The morals of justice also differ from the morals of ethics on the ground that the former focuses on the importance of mobilizing the social resources available in safeguarding the vulnerable people from exploitation from the people who are in power (Robinson 139). This is different from the morals of care which emphasize on the importance of shaping good and caring relations among individuals (Walls 179). Finally, the morals of justice stipulate that humans are dependent and are solely responsible for their actions but the morals of care stipulate that humans are relational and interdependent (Robinson 142). This implies that according to the morals of care humans rely on one another for moral support and that the relations between them play a vital role in their daily lives (Walls 183). The moral of justice approach differs from the morals of care approach since it can be used in comprehending the ethical relationships among people (Robinson 203). On the contrary, according to Virginia Held, the morals on care cannot be used in comprehending the moral relationships that exist between members of the public who are total strangers to each other (p.233). This further implies that for morals of justice to be successfully applied they have to be autonomous and independent from external influences like emotions as this will ensure fairness prevails (Walls 186). Rose Mary, who is Jeannette’s mother, cannot be able to take the responsibility of caring for her siblings due to her painting work. She calls herself an addict of excitement and thinks that she would rather paint a picture that will last a lifetime than prepare a meal for fifteen minutes for her children (Robinson 143). She contravenes the morals of care as proposed by Virginia Held since she does not take into account the emotions of her kids before she indulges in her work (p.232). She is also ignorant of creating a good caring relationship with her children who are offended by her attitudes. Rose Mary does not also comply with the morals of justice which stipulate on the importance of fairness (Kleinig 208). On the other hand, Jeannette’s father, Rex Walls, becomes a drunkard and leaves his family when they run out of love and money (Robinson 43). He additionally leaves his family with no one to fend for them which greatly contravene the morals of care which stress on the importance of building close emotional relationships with the needy (Walls 179). In conclusion, the father and mother should be made to account for their mistakes through the standards of care and justice that Virginia Held suggested (Held 230). This is because they will greatly help in alleviating the emotional breakdowns that the children go through due to their behaviors (Kleinig 198). The approach I would prefer to be utilized in streamlining their activities is the moral of care as it considers the personal relationship between the individuals in question. Works Cited Held, Virginia. The Ethics of Care: Personal, Political, and Global, 2006. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Kleinig, John. Ethics and Criminal Justice: An Introduction, 2008. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Robinson, Fiona, The Ethics Of Care: A Feminist Approach To Human Security, 2011. New York: Temple University Press. Walls, Jeannette. The Glass Castle, 2005. New York City: Scribner. Walls, Jeannette. The Glass Castle, 2006. New York: Simon and Schuster. Read More