Ethics in the philosophy of Adela Cortina

Abstract

This article reviews the personal, academic, and political life of Adela Cortina. Emphasis is placed on the creation of the Valencia Group, composed of philosophers from the University of Valencia (Spain) and the University of Castellón, which is a city that is not part of the Autonomous Community of Valencia. They have dedicated themselves to the study of ethics in all its aspects through conferences, publications, interviews, and articles for philosophy magazines in Spain. Adela Cortina’s contributions are very important regarding the anthropological principles of ethics and their practical application. Cortina begins with the recognition of the other or alterity, in order to understand the foundations of ethics that promote the dignity of all human beings, as Hegel had proposed. In 2007, she published the book “The Cordial Reason,” where she argues that “reason” must be complemented with elements of the “heart,” such as emotions and feelings, to better understand the anthropological basis of ethics. In 2017, she published “The Ethics of Compassionate Reason,” in the classical sense of the term, meaning “to suffer with the other” and, if possible, to help them. She mentions that she sought the opinion of Jürgen Habermas, who agreed with her. Her latest contribution to the problem of global poverty is an article on “post-poverty,” in which she recalls that in September 2015, the UN, with 193 signatory countries, committed to ending poverty and hunger by the year 2030. She argues that the ultra-rich should be taxed at a rate of 5% to achieve this.