Care

The moral theory known as the ethics of care implies that there
is moral significance in the fundamental elements of relationships
and dependencies in human life. HOW??
contextualizing
and promoting
the well-being of
care-givers and care-receivers
in a network of social relations
Tronto and Bernice Fischer, construes care as a species of activity
that includes everything we do to maintain, contain, and repair
our 'world' so that we can live in it as well as possible. That world
includes our bodies, ourselves, and our environment.
 EoC
Ethel case of assisted suicide.
What do you think about this situation? Is this
an act of murder or compassion?
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.'
 The ethics of care (alternatively care ethics or EoC) is a
normative ethical theory that holds interpersonal
relationships and care or benevolence as a virtue as central
to moral action.
It is one of a cluster of normative ethical theories that were
developed by feminists in the second half of the twentieth
century.
The phrase 'care ethics' has its roots in feminist theory and
was originally coined by psychologist Carol Gilligan.
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.
 American philosopher Nel Noddings
1980
Caring is the foundation of morality and caring is
a universal human attribute,
a caring relation (a relationship in which people
act in a caring manner) is ethically basic to
humans.
The ethics of care perspective stands in stark
contrast to ethical theories that rely on principles
to highlight moral actionssuch
as Kantian deontology, utilitarianism,
and justice theoryand is not meant to be
absolute and incontrovertible.
 Each caring relation consists of at least two
people, the one-caring and the cared-for.
Such a relation can certainly be more than merely
dyadic (an influence-based relationship between
two people) as the one-caring and the cared-for
may come to exhibit reciprocal commitment to
each others well-being.
Caring thus involves sentiment but is not
necessarily emotional in nature.
 natural caring and ethical caring
natural caring, which is caring borne of
inclination and love for those close to the one-
caring-NATURAL RESPONSE EXAMPLE???
ethical caring, which is the feeling response of I
must to a persons predicament. AUTOMATED
RESPONSE
Ethical caring is a natural outgrowth of natural
caring, but, UNLIKE KANTS RANKING OF DUTY AS
PRIMARY AND INCLINATION AS SECONDARY, in
the ethics of care the INCLINATION TO CARE IS
PRIMARY.
 Care Ethics is Different from
deontological/Kantian
and consequentialist/utilitarian ethics,
Care ethics is widely applied to a number of
moral issues and ethical fields, including caring
for animals and the environment, bioethics, and
more recently public policy.
Originally conceived for the private and intimate
spheres of life, care ethics has branched out as a
political theory and social movement aimed at
broader understanding of, and public support for
care-giving activities in their breadth and variety.
 Three levels of caring morality
the self is cared for to the exclusion of the
other,
the other is cared for to the exclusion of the
self, and
moral maturity, wherein the needs of both
self and other are understood.
 Application of EoC.
business ethics,
environmental ethics, and
even animal care ethics.
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.
 Virtue ethics

Virtue ethics is a philosophy developed by

Aristotle
The virtue ethical theory judges a person by
his/her character rather than by an action
that may deviate from his/her normal
behavior.
emphasize virtues of mind and character.
we acquire virtue through practice.
Batman has the opportunity to kill the
Joker.
It takes the persons morals, reputation, and
motivation into account when rating an
unusual and irregular behavior that is
considered unethical.
Example-Plagiarized passage.
it does not take into consideration a persons
change in moral character
 Kants-Principles of Rights
A right is a justified claim on others. A RIGHT IS AN ENTILEMENT TO
SOMETHING. RIGHTS IMPLY CORRELATIVE DUTIES
Right to freedom it is the duty or responsibility of others to leave me alone.
Right to education a justified claim to be provided with an education by the
society
THE RIGHTS ESTABLISHED BY A SOCIETY ARE PROTECTED AND GIVEN THE
HIGHEST PRIORITY
The "justification" of a claim is standard acknowledged and accepted not just
by the you, but also by society in general.
standard can be as concrete as the Constitution,
BUT Moral rights are justified by moral standards that most acknowledge, but
which are not necessarily codified in law; these standards have also, however,
been interpreted differently by different people.
 Rights ensures that the freedom and well-
being of each individual will be protected
when others threaten that freedom or well-
being.
If an individual has a moral right, then it is
morally wrong to interfere with that right
even if large numbers of people would
benefit from such interference.
 negative and positive rights.

These related rights can be grouped into two broad

categories
negative and positive rights.
Negative rights are rights that protect some form of
human freedom or liberty the right to privacy, the right
not to be killed, or the right to do what one wants with
one's property.
called negative rights because such rights are a claim that
imposes a "negative" duty on all othersthe duty not to
interfere with a person's activities in a certain area.
example The right to privacy imposes on OTHERS THE
DUTY NOT TO INTRUDE into the private activities of a
person.
 positive rights
positive or welfare rights=are "positive" in the sense
that they claim for each person the positive assistance
of others in fulfilling basic constituents of human well-
being like health and education
Rights that provide something that people need to
secure their well being, -right to an education, the
right to food, the right to medical care, the right to
housing, or the right to a job.
Positive rights impose a positive duty on OTHERSthe
duty actively to help a person to have or to do
something.
 Prisoners Dilemma
In the simple Prisoners Dilemma game, each
player has only two options: cooperate (and be
exploited) or defect (and exploit).
Model of interaction between two parties who
must decide whether to cooperate or to cheat
each other.
The Prisoners Dilemma is a concept used to
model a strategic interaction in which actors
choosing their behaviours rationally according to
their own self-interest make everyone worse off
than they could have been otherwise.
 Prisoners Dilemma
The key feature of the game is that, when the
game is played only once, no matter what
another player does (cooperating with me or
trying to exploit me), I am better off trying to
exploit the other player so in the end, every
player exploits rather than cooperates, and
they are all worse off than they would have
been could someone have forced them to
cooperate.
 Application

Whether one has a duty to cooperate with

others in Prisoners Dilemma-like situations is
an important question both for policy and for
daily life
 Code of Ethics
Also called Ethical code.. Sometimes referred to as a Value
Statement
An assembly of Institutional guidelines that ar used to reduce
ethical vagueness within an organisation and serve as a means of
reinforcing ethical conduct.
It works on the bases of treat others as you would like to be
treated.
Begins at the top management-organisational leadership based on
moral values.
Contain general, nonspecific expectations and target guidelines tat
attempt to reduce vagueness and lessen the burden of ethical
decision making with regards to gray areas.
Developed based on past organizational or personal experiences
and on actions that organisation wishes to present from ever
occuring.
 Purpose of Code of ethics
Provide moral guidelines and professional standards
of conducts.
Define professional behaviour
Holds people accountable for proper performances
and devotion to honesty and obligation.
Promote a sense of pride, tolerance and responsibility
among professionals.
Serves as a foundation for disciplinary action in case
of violation.
Sets standards for action beyond legal obligations.
 Code of Ethics and Code of
Conduct
Codes of ethics govern decision-making-Ethics guidelines attempt to provide
guidance about values and choices to influence decision making.
Codes of conduct govern actions -Conduct regulations assert that some specific
actions are appropriate, others inappropriate.
A Code of Conduct applies the Code of Ethics to a host of relevant situations
A particular rule in the Code of Ethics might state that all employees will obey
the law
Code of Conduct might list several specic laws relevant to different areas of
organizational operations, or industry, that employees need to obey.
Code of Conduct outlines specific behaviours that are required or prohibited as a
condition of ongoing employment eg., forbid sexual harassment, racial
intimidation or viewing inappropriate or unauthorized content on company
computers.
Both represents two common ways that companies self-regulate.
Associated with large companies, and provide direction to employees and
establish a public image of good behaviour, both of which benefits businesses of
any size.
 Code of Ethics in Business
General Business ethics
Professional BE
Ethics of Accounting information, production,
sales and marketing,
Ethics of IP,
Ethics of IB.
 Business and Religion
Religion is one of the more frequently mentioned determinants of
the moral values that underpin ethical standards.
Most of them teach that an omniscient God observes human
actions and holds people accountable for their actions.
Asia and Middle East- Religion and cultural perspectives influence
on conduct and creation of business values is high.
Divine Command Theory
If God says these acts are right, then they are right
(1) God commands us to do x because x is morally right.
(2) x is morally right because God commands us to do x.

Two things are pretty clear: the divine command theorist is

committed to answer (2), and
(1) and (2) are exclusive:
 Two basic claims
A God /Gods approve certain actions
The actions that God/Gods approve are morally right because of this
approval or command.
So who believes these claims have to find out what God/Gods approve of.
DCTheory is SOMETIMES ASSOCIATED WITH EXTREMISTS-because
people in the name of their Gods/Religions have done outrageous
things.
Doctors-following the word of God
Nuremberg Trails-
Robots action VS DCT ACTION
SOMETHING IS WRONG WITH THE ANALOGY!
Thus a person who blindly follows DCT is an
irresponsible moral agent.
 DIVINE COMMAND THEORY has so
many problems
DIVINE COMMAND THEORY has so many problems that there are very few people
on earth that use it and they tend to be fanatics, and mentally unstable people.
No organized religion actually supports DIVINE COMMAND THEORY because of
all the problems with it and the threat it poses to organized religions.
Judaism and Christianity and Islam support NATURAL LAW THEORY and not
DIVINE COMMAND.
Problems:
1. Is there a god or any deity?
2. Who knows what the commands of the deity are? Can anyone claim to have heard
the command and respond to it?
3. The commands may need to be interpreted, but by whom?
4. If there are a few who claim to be designated by the deity or who are designated by
some group to be the official recipients of the divine commands are humans
prepared to follow the commands of these designated recipients as if they were
the commands of the deity?
5. If the deity commands or the designated recipients of the deity's commands do
command that every human sacrifice the second born child on its third birthday
on an altar would that make human sacrifice a morally GOOD act?
 basic worlds religions: Christianity,
Judaism, Islam and Buddhism.
Christian Business Ethics
In Christianity, the basis of this theology is the Old Testament and
the New Testament.
The Christian in commerce should not desire to get anothers
goods or labour for less than it is worth.
One must not try to obtain a good price for his own wares by
extortion.
If one is buying from the poor, charity must be exercised as well as
justice; purchaser must pay the full price that the goods are worth
to him.
Moreover, purchaser shouldnt admit suffering of the vendor
because he cannot stand out for his price, but vendor should offer a
loan or persuade some one else to do
so.
Jewish business ethics:
Judaism, which relies on the Torah for its written law, has had a great impact on
marketing and business ideology.
Jewish culture, values, and ideas have penetrated into many aspects of modern
life including modern market= honesty on the market, fair pricing and business
relations.
honesty on the market. Merchants are prohibited from falsifying weights and
measures, owning a dishonest weight by the Torah.
Fair pricing. "If you sell something to your neighbour or buy something from your
neighbours hand, you shall not cheat each other." Similarly, if an individual is
unaware of true value of an item and wishes to sell it, one must not take
advantage of the sellers ignorance and underpay. Price stability is of great concern
to the Talmud.
Business relations. Employers are required to pay employees on time. Indeed,
business ethics occupies such an important place in Jewish Laws, culture, and
tradition that the Talmud has as the very first question to an individual at the final
judgment: "Were you honest in your business dealings?"
 Muslim Business Ethics
For Islam, the basis of these laws is the Qur'an.
Islamic teachings strongly stress on observance of ethical and moral code in
human behaviour.
Muslim ethics include avoidance of peoples exploitation through lending them
money at interest and prohibitions against false advertising.
Under Islamic Laws, if a vendor sells an item by making false claims about it,
customer has the right to have the transaction cancelled.
Buddhist Business Ethics.
The Buddhist business code and professional ethics are closely tied with respect
for environment.
Essentially, according to Buddhist teachings, ethical and moral principles are run by
examining a certain action, which has to avoid any harm.
Therefore some Buddhist texts emphasise on the role of enlightenment - one of
the elements which prohibits occupations associated with violence (such as arms
dealing).
 Individualism, Collectivism.

An individualistic society depends upon the

values of freedom and independence, while
a collectivistic society depends on group
harmony and consensus.
The values in each society play an intricate
role in developing communication styles for a
business message targeted at each specific
audience.
 Peoples behaviour
People from individualistic cultures are more likely to have
an independent view of themselves (they see themselves
as separate from others, define themselves based on their
personal traits, and see their characteristics as relatively
stable and unchanging).
On the other hand, people from collectivistic cultures are
more likely to have an interdependent view of themselves
(they see themselves as connected to others, define
themselves in terms of relationships with others, and see
their characteristics as more likely to change across
different contexts).
Western cultures tend to be more individualistic while
East Asian cultures tend to be more collectivistic.
 Relationships
In individualistic cultures, relationships are
often seen as voluntary, and its not
uncommon to choose to end relationships
that are not beneficial.
On the other hand, relationships in
collectivistic cultures are often seen as more
stable and permanent.
 social support
cultural background impact the type of social support
that is sought out and benefited from most.
Asians are less likely than European to talk about an
event that they are stressed by.
East Asians are less likely to talk about a stressful event
because doing so can present a challenge to
relationships in collectivistic cultures.
Instead, individuals from East Asian cultures are more
likely to seek out implicit social support, which
involves spending time with close others without
actually talking about a stressor.
Western cultures tend to be more
individualistic while East Asian cultures tend to
be more collectivistic.
China has viewed the goal of ethics has
reflected the collectivist approach of
maintaining a stable and harmonious society,
while in the United States the individualist view
of ethics tends to focus on the individual and
their morals.
radically different views on the role of
government, the rights of individuals, and are a
major cause of cultural misunderstandings that
affect international politics.
 Role of society
society is to protect its individual members,
giving them unhindered opportunities to
pursue life, liberty and happiness(Western
philosopy)
the most important role of ethics is a more
collectivist approach in upholding a stable and
harmonious society (Chinese philosophy)
 Ethics word meaning is also
different!!
Even the word ethics in English and Chinese
reveals the distinct cultural approaches.
In English the definition of ethics is a set of
principles of right conduct, a theory or a
system of moral values.
The Chinese word has a very different focus; it
might be better translated as rules of society.
Ren is each individuals obligation to be altruistic and help
others, yi is the need to be righteous and aspire to have a good
moral disposition

Confucianism-people should be willing to

sacrifice their own lives to uphold ren and yi.
Facebook, Twitter---These are viewed as
invasions of individual privacy in the United
States, while the Chinese government views
them as necessary measures to protect
society.
 Ethical Individualism and Moral Collectivism in
America Richard Stivers Illinois State
University