Virginia Held is a feminist philosopher whose work has demonstrated that a fully developed “ethics of care” is applicable to global issues. The ethics of care is an alternative ethical perspective which prioritizes particular relationships and their attendant responsibilities. It is often contrasted with traditional ethical theories which emphasize general rules and individual rights. Early formulations of the ethics of care, such as those offered by Carol Gilligan (1982) and Nel Noddings (1986), were criticized for reinforcing damaging stereotypes of women and for limiting the scope of moral concern to those with whom we have a personal relationship. Especially in the book The Ethics of Care: Personal, Political, and Global (2006), Held addresses such criticisms and argues that the ethics of care may be better equipped than traditional theories for guiding ethical thinking in many contexts, including global contexts. Held has employed the “care perspective” to address global issues...
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References
Gilligan C (1982) In a different voice: psychological theory and women’s development. Harvard University Press, Cambridge
Held V (1989) Rights and goods: justifying social action. University of Chicago Press, Chicago
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Striblen, C.A. (2011). Held, Virginia. In: Chatterjee, D.K. (eds) Encyclopedia of Global Justice. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4020-9160-5_461
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