TY - JOUR
T1 - From ethics of care to psychology of care
T2 - Reconnecting ethics of care to contemporary moral psychology
AU - Govrin, Aner
PY - 2014
Y1 - 2014
N2 - Moral psychology once regarded ethics of care as a promising theory. However, there is evidence to suggest that nowadays moral psychology completely ignores ethics of care's various insights. Moreover, ethics of care's core concepts - compassion, dependence, and the importance of early relations to moral development- are no longer considered to be relevant to the development of new theories in the field. In this paper, I will firstly discuss some of the reasons which, over recent years, have contributed to the marginalization of the role of ethics of care in moral psychology. Next, I will show that ethics of care's most promising idea centered on the care given to an infant and the importance of that care to the development of moral thinking. In this context, I will be describing the implications of John Bowlby's attachment theories, infant research, findings in moral psychology and neuroscience. I will argue that ethics of care needs to be radically re-thought and replaced by a psychology of care, an attachment approach to moral judgment, which would establish the centrality of the caregiver's role in moral development. The philosophical implications of this approach to the understanding of the 'rationalists"and 'intuitionists"debate about the true nature of moral judgment is also discussed.
AB - Moral psychology once regarded ethics of care as a promising theory. However, there is evidence to suggest that nowadays moral psychology completely ignores ethics of care's various insights. Moreover, ethics of care's core concepts - compassion, dependence, and the importance of early relations to moral development- are no longer considered to be relevant to the development of new theories in the field. In this paper, I will firstly discuss some of the reasons which, over recent years, have contributed to the marginalization of the role of ethics of care in moral psychology. Next, I will show that ethics of care's most promising idea centered on the care given to an infant and the importance of that care to the development of moral thinking. In this context, I will be describing the implications of John Bowlby's attachment theories, infant research, findings in moral psychology and neuroscience. I will argue that ethics of care needs to be radically re-thought and replaced by a psychology of care, an attachment approach to moral judgment, which would establish the centrality of the caregiver's role in moral development. The philosophical implications of this approach to the understanding of the 'rationalists"and 'intuitionists"debate about the true nature of moral judgment is also discussed.
KW - Attachment theory
KW - Ethics of care
KW - Infant research
KW - Mind perception
KW - Moral development
KW - Moral psychology
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=84907092048&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.3389/fpsyg.2014.01135
DO - 10.3389/fpsyg.2014.01135
M3 - ???researchoutput.researchoutputtypes.contributiontojournal.article???
C2 - 25368588
SN - 1664-1078
VL - 5
JO - Frontiers in Psychology
JF - Frontiers in Psychology
IS - SEP
M1 - 1135
ER -