Duties and responsibilities in adulthood

Abstract

Moral conflicts in adulthood usually arise from disturbances in relationships or from different claims regarding rights and duties in everyday lives. Former conflicts are handled with the ethic of care, through responding to the needs of others, whereas conflicts of the latter kind are addressed by the ethic of justice, through application of moral rules and principles. This chapter traces the origin and evolution of these two research traditions on the development of reflective moral thinking, and reviews the empirical evidence collected so far. Furthermore, the role of the care and justice ethics in everyday moral decision-making is explored. We conclude that both these tracks of moral development involve progress from initial self-concern towards concern for others and have important roles in adults’ everyday lives. Considerations of care and justice become integrated in mature post-conventional thinking which emphasises individuals’ rights and responsibilities for their life choices as an ultimate moral criterion.