Abstract
Michael Schluter and David Lee among other scholars decry the extent of erosion in genuine personal relationships among human persons in present day societies. The concern it generates is consequent upon the social ills prevalent among humankind ranging from corruption, poverty, unemployment, armed robbery, kidnapping (adult napping), human trafficking, drug trafficking, internet fraud, ritual killings, conflicts, wars and a host of others. The wave of these social vices has been identified as a moral problem, which emanates from failure of the human person to develop a strong moral sense in present-day society with the emergence of democracy and market economy. This is so because if principles of moral actions are socially weak, they are usually unable to ensure a healthy inter-personal relationship as well as a healthy society. Given this backdrop, the paper attempts to interrogate the social import of an ethic of utility and care in order to come to terms with which would foster social relationships in contemporary society for the achievement of human well-being, viable and sustainable development.
Highlights
Society is meaningful not without humankind who is the subject and object of social interaction
Whereas utilitarianism concerns itself with the possible number of people affected by a given pleasure, care ethics considers the hurt and benefit an action could impact on others and pay attention to what ought to be done that would help the people involved in the relationship at a particular case at hand
The need for mutual benefit in human social relationship defines the necessity for moral principles of behaviour
Summary
Society is meaningful not without humankind who is the subject and object of social interaction. Ehiakhamen (Hobbes, 1909; Locke, 1970), the onus falls on humankind to consciously fashion out a means of enhancing the ability to relate with one another in a productive manner for the realisation of human welfare and, social peace and harmony This effort prompts ethical deliberations that culminate in ethical principles. This means if a principle is socially weak, it would be unable to ensure the kind of social relationship that can generate social solidarity among humankind It is in the light of this that this paper attempts to look critically at the principle of utility and care ethics as ethical models with a view to determining which of them could be more adequate for humanity in the realisation of social aspirations, needed for a healthy and meaningful social relationship. A more detailed explication of these moral theories—utilitarianism and care ethics is essential in order to unravel which is more adequate for enhancing social relationships among humans
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