An A–Z of medical philosophy

Abstract

Surely gender has nothing to do with morality? Well, perhaps it just might. All approaches to ethics make assumptions about what constitutes human nature and the human good. A conventional description of a mature ethical person would value ideals such as autonomy, rationality, and justice. The feminist ethicist Carol Gilligan in her book In a Different Voice: Psychological Theory and Women’s Development, would see such a description as a specifically masculine picture of identity. Gilligan would see mature human flourishing more in terms of a network of mutually caring relationships. Carol Tavris claims that we have divided our world into the ‘public’ sphere, where virtues such as reason and justice are recognised, but we have marginalised the ‘private’ sphere where virtues such as care and nurture are central. By marginalising the female virtues we marginalise women themselves. The classic feminist account of gender identity is …