The ethics of care is a normative ethical theory; that is, a theory about what makes actions right or wrong. It is one of a cluster of normative ethical theories that were developed by feminists in the second half of the twentieth century. While consequentialist and deontological ethical theories emphasize universal standards and impartiality, ethics of care emphasize the importance of relationships.

The basis of the theory is the recognition of:

1. The interdependence of all individuals for achieving their interests

2. The belief that those particularly vulnerable to our choices and their outcomes deserve extra consideration to be measured according to

i) the level of their vulnerability to one's choices

ii) the level of their affectedness by one's choices and no one else's

3. The necessity of attending to the contextual details of the situation in order to safeguard and promote the actual specific interests of those involved

The ethics of care was initially inspired by the work of psychologist Carol Gilligan.^[1] Early in her career, Carol Gilligan worked with psychologist Lawrence Kohlberg while he was researching his theory of moral development.^[2] Gilligan's work on women's moral development arose in response to the seemingly male-based results that arose from Kohlberg's studies.

Gilligan and others have suggested that the history of ethics in Western culture has emphasized the justice view of morality because it is the outlook that has traditionally been cultivated and shared by men. By contrast, women have traditionally been taught a different kind of moral outlook that emphasizes solidarity, community, and caring about one's special relationships. This "care view" of morality has been ignored or trivialized because women were traditionally in positions of limited power and influence. The justice view of morality focuses on doing the right thing even if it requires personal cost or sacrificing the interest of those to whom one is close. The care view would instead say that we can and should put the interests of those who are close to us above the interests of complete strangers, and that we should cultivate our natural capacity to care for others and ourselves.

Ethics of care contrasts with more well-known ethical views, such as utilitarianism and deontology or Kantian ethics. This sort of outlook is what feminist critics call a 'justice view' of morality. A morality of care rests on the understanding of relationships as a response to another in their terms. It focuses on the moral value of being partial toward those concrete persons with whom we have special and valuable relationships, and on the moral importance of responding to such persons as particular individuals with characteristics that demand a response to them that we do not extend to others.

While some feminists have criticized care-based ethics for reinforcing traditional stereotypes of a “good woman” ^[3] others have embraced parts of this paradigm under the theoretical concept of care-focused feminism. ^[4]

• Feminist ethics
• Relational ethics

• Sandra Bartky
• Grace Clement
• Carol Gilligan
• Virginia Held
• Sarah Hoagland
• Eva Feder Kittay
• Rita Manning
• Nel Noddings
• Ellen Feder
• Michael Slote

• Held, Virginia (2005). The Ethics of Care. Oxford: Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/0195180992.001.0001. ISBN 978-0-19-518099-2.

• Slote, Michael A. (2007). The Ethics of Care and Empathy. London ; New York: Routledge. ISBN 9780415772006 (hardback).

• Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy entry on Feminist Ethics
• Ethics of Care article at Carnegie Mellon website
• Gilligan's stages of moral development
• Nel Noddings biography