Ethics Of Care Utilitarianism

Utilitarianism and the Ethics of Care are differ greatly in their origins which dramatically affected how the systems deal with moral problems facing society; this is especially true with the Ethics of Care as it is considerably more “modern” when compared to the more traditional system of Utilitarianism. This traditional and duty driven system of producing the greatest happiness for the greatest number of people versus the compassion and empathy fueled understanding is the center of how ethics is changing and how do classical renditions of moral systems hold up over time and scrutiny. Examining Utilitarianism yields the claim that society should aim to create the as much happiness for the greatest number of people. This is known as the principle …show more content…
This empathy and compassion is visible within the title of “Ethics of Care” as care is one of the fundamentals of the Ethics of Care along with equality. This system is birthed due to Gilligan feeling an inherent disconnect between traditional moral systems and women especially concerning Lawrence Kohlberg and his stages of moral development. Gilligan claimed that men are dominated by ethics of justice and duty while women are enveloped by ethics of care, compassion, and understanding and that understanding the different paths was paramount considering care ethics did not play a big role in the philosophy scene. Due to this, the Ethics of Care is seen as a feminine or “feminist” ethics system which makes sense as Gilligan argues it is for women to have their moral development branch into compassion and care. Some feminists claim this to be detrimental to the feminist cause as it lends itself to the traditional gender roles/stereotypes held by society, while Gilligan holds firm that these ideals of understanding a person's actions and their vulnerabilities should be celebrated and seen as something to take pride …show more content…
A boy is rushed to the hospital needing a heart-transplant or else he’ll die. The doctor learns that he is a drug-addict which put him in this situation, with the boy overdosing in the next couple years, effectively wasting the heart that another could have used better. Utilitarianism would see as the boy living would not produce as many units of happiness and pleasure as someone who would take care of their heart more, so it would be safe to say that in a Utilitarian society the boy would be denied the heart in order for someone else to better utilize it. The Ethics of Care although would handle this case quite differently, with not only giving the boy the heart but continue treatment beyond the immediate surgery. This would likely include helping the child with their addiction with rehab and therapy if necessary. This attempt at reintegration into society would be crucial to the Ethics of Care as so much can be done if time and understanding is put into a troubled person’s life when concerning abusing