The Core of Care Ethics

Although the ethical and political theory of care ethics has flourished in recent decades, we still remain without a succinct statement of its core normative commitment. This study aims to remedy that by dissecting the existing care ethics literature and arriving at four key claims that constitute the most defensible reconstruction of that literature. It sums up those four key claims in a principle. In slogan form, the principle proposed is 'dependency relationships generate responsibilities.' This principle is subjected to a novel and detailed analysis and is then used to unify, specify, and justify the four key claims of care ethics, as those claims apply to both individuals and groups, in a way that retains care ethics' intuitive appeal and phenomenological and feminist insights.

Stephanie Collins is a Lecturer in Political Theory at the University of Manchester, UK. Her research is orientated around feminist, collective, and global ethics. Her work has appeared in such places as The Australasian Journal of Philosophy and Ethical Theory and Moral Practice.

1. Introduction
PART I: THE CLAIMS OF CARE ETHICS
2. Scepticism about Principles
3. The Value of Relationships
4. Caring Attitudes
5. Caring Actions
PART II: CRYSTALLISING THE CLAIMS
6. The Dependency Principle
7. Collective Dependency Duties
8. Unifying, Specifying, and Justifying Care Ethics