Concepts of Care Ethics and Agapistic Ethics Essay

, ,

Concepts of Care Ethics and Agapistic Ethics Essay

In this writing assignment, you will provide a checklist demonstrating the concepts of care ethics and agapistic ethics

PHI410 Week 5 Assignment Instructions In this writing assignment, you will provide a checklist demonstrating the concepts of care ethics and agapistic ethics. Step 1: Read the scenario. Your next-door neighbor, Simon Watson, has been recently diagnosed with chronic fatigue syndrome. Before the diagnosis, Simon lost his job as a result of too many absences from work. Simon’s wife, Lora, works, but the majority of her paycheck goes to daycare costs for their two young children. Step 2: Create a checklist. Create a checklist identifying 10 to 12 actions you might take to help your neighbor that is consistent with care ethics and agapistic ethics.

Create a three-column table.
Label the first column Action, the second column Classification, and the third column Reason for Classification.
In the first column, indicate the action you would take to help Simon Watson.
In the second column, classify the action as (A) agapistic, (C) care, or (B) both.
In the third column, explain the reason for your classification of this action. Concepts of Care Ethics and Agapistic Ethics Essay.
Repeat these steps for all your identified actions.

Ethel is 89 years old and was just diagnosed with terminal cancer. Her doctor believes that she’s got only a couple of months left to live. In that time, Ethel’s health will deteriorate rapidly, and she will experience a lot of pain. Ethel wants to live out the rest of her good days with her family.

ORDER A PLAGIARISM -FREE PAPER NOW

However, once the pain becomes unbearable and she can no longer take care of herself, Ethel is considering opting for physician-assisted suicide. Her current doctor does not support this idea because she views it as murder. However, in Vermont this is considered a legal act under certain guidelines, and there are other doctors willing to perform the task.

What do you think about this situation? Is this an act of murder or compassion? There are some who believe that there are universal codes that remain constant no matter what the scenario may be. Care ethics is the exact opposite of that. The ethics of care theory believes that context can sometimes overrule justice and our universal code of conduct. This approach focuses more on the interconnectedness of humanity and places a moral significance on our relationships as ‘care-givers’ and ‘care-receivers.’

History of Ethics of Care Theory

The phrase ‘care ethics’ has its roots in feminist theory and was originally coined by psychologist Carol Gilligan. The phrase was created after a study that was conducted on how little girls look at ethics. Gilligan found that in relation to boys, the moral development of girls tended to come from compassion instead of being justice-based. From the study, Gilligan proposed that ethics should be focused on relationships instead of emphasizing autonomy and rules. Her theory focused more on our connections with each other and situations being context dependent.

Another woman, philosopher Nel Noddings, further contributed to the theory in the 1980s. Concepts of Care Ethics and Agapistic Ethics Essay. Noddings decided to focus the approach more on our intimate relationships. She felt that it was necessary to differentiate between natural caring or ‘wanting to care’ and ‘ethical caring‘ or ‘needing to care.’

For example, let’s say your aunt tells you that she’s just lost her job. You give her a hug in an act of affection. This is an example of natural caring. Now let’s say that an acquaintance tells you she just had a messy break-up with her boyfriend. You don’t know her very well. However, you believe that ‘showing you care’ is the best response, so you give her a hug. This is an example of ethical caring.

In current times, care ethics has been applied to a number of different scenarios. This includes business ethics, environmental ethics, and even animal care ethics. One of the best examples of care ethics being used in modern times is in bioethics. Professions involved in medicine specifically deal with caring for others. As a result, care ethics has become a part of assessing both medical practices and policies. Additionally, it has also been applied to a number of different social movements. Care ethics has been included in the debate about capital punishment, hospice care, and also gay marriage. Concepts of Care Ethics and Agapistic Ethics Essay.