Kant's Ethics Of Care By Nel Noddings

➢ Ethics of Care – possibly one of the most interesting ethical theories. Advocate Nel Noddings was concerned with key relationships between individuals and disregarded Kant’s Categorical Imperative as it eradicated any human rationalisation or instinct, especially motherly instinct as most deontological theories are too focused on rules and duty, disregarding real relationships between individuals. I feel that this ethical theory, compared to consequentialism and deontology best represents the actual situation and feelings a mother may face or any individual in a difficult situation, especially a moral dilemma. Other theories focus on the maximisation of happiness or following duties but ethics of care more deeply understands the relationships …show more content…
An action, which may be deemed to be morally wrong one, can be stated to be a ‘diminishment of the ethical ideal’. The ethical ideal in Sophie’s situation would have been to save both of her children instead of having the only options to send one or both of her children to their death. Nel states that individuals have an instinct to care for people they love and hold relationships with. If I apply this to Sophie, she obviously as a mother has the instinct to care for both of her children who she has a very strong relationship with. The Nazi guard on the other hand is forcing her and eradicating her possibility to care and commit a good act. The ‘ethical ideal’ has been diminished. Nel states individuals can only be deemed to be evil if they disregard care where it is needed in the first place. Sophie does care for her children but is being forced into the situation where she must do something dreadful – the guard is evil and is the one to blame not Sophie. This is in my opinion a very interesting ethical theory to apply to the …show more content…
Similarly to ethics of care, family ethics revolves around the emotions of individuals such as ‘older and younger brothers’ It believes that apart from the relationship between ‘friends and friends’ all other relationships involved a superior and an inferior who must look after and be just to. In Sophie’s situation we can highlight the structure of Confucian teachings. The Nazi guard would be the superior, who is ultimately forcing Sophie to make a decision. However on a smaller scale Sophie can be seen as the superior in the sense, she is the one who can send both or one child to their impending doom. In Confucian teachings the superior must love and be just towards the inferior. There is no doubt that Sophie did love both of her children, and would have presumably been just to both In a normal situation other than which she was faced in. Confucius stated that we can observe morality in the sense of how well and individual has fulfilled their own family role specific of their position in the family and the state. If is odd to try to explain if Sophie has fulfilled her family role in such a situation. A parent must always love their children no matter what. Can we say that Sophie has stopped loving her child, which she sent to their death? I think that to deal with the idea of family ethics, in my own opinion we must think of love transcending death. As obvious as it may seem, I feel