Are Moral Values Gendered?
Are Moral Values Gendered?
A Different Voice?
Dr. Clea F. Rees
ReesC17@cardiff.ac.uk
Centre for Lifelong Learning
Cardiff University
Spring 2013
b
Virtue
ble
ss i
Per
mi
Et
h
Im
per
m
Immoral
ible
iss
al
hic
Moral
Outline
l
ica
Are Moral Values Gendered?
Un
et
V i ce
Kohlberg’s Stages of Moral Development
A Different Voice?
Questions
Baier on Trust & Distrust
Initial questions
Argument Structure
Justice & Care
Trust & Distrust
Evaluation
Discussion
Feminist Ethics
Andi LaVine Arnovitz,
If Only They Had Asked Us, 2010
b
Virtue
ble
ss i
Per
mi
Et
h
Im
per
m
Immoral
ible
iss
al
hic
Moral
Kohlberg’s Stages of Moral Development
l
ica
Are Moral Values Gendered?
Un
et
V i ce
Kohlberg’s Stages of Moral Development
Heinz’s Dilemma
A woman is near death from a rare cancer. There is a drug which
might save her but the druggist who recently developed the drug
wants $2,000 per dose. The drug costs him $200 to make. The
woman’s husband, Heinz, managed to borrow only $1,000. He
asked the druggist to give him a discount or to let him pay later
but the druggist said, “No, I discovered the drug and I’m going to
make money from it.” In desperation, Heinz broke into the store
and stole the drug for his wife. Should he have done so?
b
Virtue
ble
ss i
Per
mi
Et
h
Im
per
m
Immoral
ible
iss
al
hic
Moral
Kohlberg’s Stages of Moral Development
l
ica
Are Moral Values Gendered?
Un
et
V i ce
Kohlberg’s Stages of Moral Development
b
Virtue
ble
ss i
Per
mi
Et
h
Im
per
m
Immoral
ible
iss
al
hic
Moral
Kohlberg’s Stages of Moral Development
l
ica
Are Moral Values Gendered?
Un
et
V i ce
Kohlberg’s Stages of Moral Development
Kohlberg’s Stages of Moral Development
Level 3: Post-Conventional Morality
Stage 6: universal ethical principles, respect, dignity & justice
Stage 5: social contract, basic rights & justice
Level 2: Conventional Morality
Stage 4: social order & good of group/society
Stage 3: social roles & personal relationships
Level 1: Pre-Conventional Morality
Stage 2: enlightened self-interest & “fairness”
Stage 1: obedience & avoidance of punishment
b
Virtue
ble
ss i
Per
mi
Et
h
Im
per
m
Immoral
ible
iss
al
hic
Moral
Kohlberg’s Stages of Moral Development
l
ica
Are Moral Values Gendered?
Un
et
V i ce
Kohlberg’s Stages of Moral Development
Jake (11 years old)
Heinz was right to steal the drug. . .
. . . a human life is worth more than money, and if the
druggist makes $1,000, he is still going to live, but if
Heinz doesn’t steal the drug, his wife is going to die.
. . . the druggist can get a thousand dollars later from
rich people with cancer, but Heinz can’t get his wife
again.
. . . people are all different and so you couldn’t get
Heinz’s wife again.
b
Virtue
ble
ss i
Per
mi
Et
h
Im
per
m
Immoral
ible
iss
al
hic
Moral
Kohlberg’s Stages of Moral Development
l
ica
Are Moral Values Gendered?
Un
et
V i ce
Kohlberg’s Stages of Moral Development
Amy (11 years old)
Amy doesn’t think Heinz did the right thing. . .
Well, I don’t think so. I think there might be other
ways besides stealing it, like if he could borrow the money
or make a loan or something, but he really shouldn’t steal
the drug — but his wife shouldn’t die either. . . If he stole
the drug, he might save his wife then, but if he did, he
might have to go to jail, and then his wife might get
sicker again, and he couldn’t get more of the drug, and it
might not be good. So, they should really just talk it out
and find some other way to make the money.
b
Virtue
ble
ss i
Per
mi
Et
h
Im
per
m
Immoral
ible
iss
al
hic
Moral
Kohlberg’s Stages of Moral Development
l
ica
Are Moral Values Gendered?
Un
et
V i ce
Kohlberg’s Stages of Moral Development
Kohlberg’s Stages of Moral Development
Level 3: Post-Conventional Morality
Stage 6: universal ethical principles, respect, dignity & justice
Stage 5: social contract, basic rights & justice
Level 2: Conventional Morality
Stage 4: social order & good of group/society
Stage 3: social roles & personal relationships
Level 1: Pre-Conventional Morality
Stage 2: enlightened self-interest & “fairness”
Stage 1: obedience & avoidance of punishment
b
Virtue
ble
ss i
Per
mi
Et
h
Im
per
m
ible
iss
al
hic
Moral
Immoral
A Different Voice?
l
ica
Are Moral Values Gendered?
Un
et
V i ce
A Different Voice?
Carol Gilligan:
In In A Different Voice, Gilligan argued that:
I Men and women (typically) reason differently about morality.
I
I
I
I
Women’s reasoning is not inferior to men’s, as Kohlberg’s scale
suggests.
We have not better and worse perspectives on the moral world,
but simply different ones.
Women tend to see the moral world in terms of caring,
relationships, needs etc.
Men tend to see the moral world in terms of justice, rights,
abstract principles etc.
b
Virtue
ble
ss i
Per
mi
Et
h
Im
per
m
ible
iss
al
hic
Moral
Immoral
A Different Voice?
l
ica
Are Moral Values Gendered?
Un
et
V i ce
A Different Voice?
Carol Gilligan:
In later work, Gilligan argues that:
I Both men and women can access both perspectives.
I
I
I
I
2/3 girls will initially use a care perspective.
2/3 boys will initially use a justice perspective.
Each group can also use the alternative perspective.
The perspectives work like “gestalts”.
i.e. We switch between them rather than using them
simultaneously.
b
Virtue
Are Moral Values Gendered?
ble
ss i
Per
mi
Et
h
ible
iss
Questions
Im
per
m
al
hic
Moral
Immoral
l
ica
A Different Voice?
Un
et
V i ce
A Different Voice?
Questions
Is there a “different voice”?
I
If so, what explains it?
I
What implications, if any, does this have for
ethical/moral theory?
What would an ethics of care look like?
I
I
I
I
Would this provide an alternative to theories
of justice?
Would it be complementary?
Would it be superior?
b
Virtue
ble
ss i
Per
mi
Et
h
Immoral
ible
iss
Questions
Im
per
m
al
hic
Moral
A Different Voice?
l
ica
Are Moral Values Gendered?
Un
et
V i ce
A Different Voice?
Questions
I
Some moral theorists have proposed detailed theories based
on the value of care.
e.g. Virginia Held, Nel Noddings
I
I
Some theorists have disputed Gilligan’s empirical claims.
Some moral theorists have argued that the data do not have
the implications suggested.
e.g. Thomas E. Hill, Jr., James Rachels
I
Some critics have argued from an explicitly feminist
perspective.
e.g. Claudia Card, Alison Jaggar
b
Per
mi
Et
h
Immoral
ible
iss
al
hic
Im
per
m
Un
et
V i ce
Initial questions
Virtue
ble
ss i
Moral
Baier on Trust & Distrust
l
ica
Are Moral Values Gendered?
Baier on Trust & Distrust
Initial questions
What is Baier’s main thesis or conclusion?
b
Per
mi
Et
h
Immoral
ible
iss
al
hic
Im
per
m
Un
et
V i ce
Initial questions
Virtue
ble
ss i
Moral
Baier on Trust & Distrust
l
ica
Are Moral Values Gendered?
Baier on Trust & Distrust
Initial questions
Terminology (questions 2–3):
b
Per
mi
Et
h
Immoral
ible
iss
al
hic
Im
per
m
Un
et
V i ce
Argument Structure
Virtue
ble
ss i
Moral
Baier on Trust & Distrust
l
ica
Are Moral Values Gendered?
Baier on Trust & Distrust
Argument Structure
What is the logical structure of Baier’s argument (question 4)?
b
Per
mi
Et
h
Immoral
ible
iss
al
hic
Im
per
m
Un
et
V i ce
Justice & Care
Virtue
ble
ss i
Moral
Baier on Trust & Distrust
l
ica
Are Moral Values Gendered?
Baier on Trust & Distrust
Justice & Care
What role does Baier’s discussion of abortion play in her argument?
b
Per
mi
Et
h
Immoral
ible
iss
al
hic
Im
per
m
Un
et
V i ce
Justice & Care
Virtue
ble
ss i
Moral
Baier on Trust & Distrust
l
ica
Are Moral Values Gendered?
Baier on Trust & Distrust
Justice & Care
Comparison of soldiering & mothering (question 6):
b
Per
mi
Et
h
Immoral
ible
iss
al
hic
Im
per
m
Un
et
V i ce
Trust & Distrust
Virtue
ble
ss i
Moral
Baier on Trust & Distrust
l
ica
Are Moral Values Gendered?
Baier on Trust & Distrust
Trust & Distrust
Why is distrust important, according to Baier (question 7)?
b
Per
mi
Et
h
Immoral
ible
iss
al
hic
Im
per
m
Un
et
V i ce
Evaluation
Virtue
ble
ss i
Moral
Baier on Trust & Distrust
l
ica
Are Moral Values Gendered?
Baier on Trust & Distrust
Evaluation
Is Baier’s assessment of (male) moral philosophical theory fair?
b
Per
mi
Et
h
Immoral
ible
iss
al
hic
Im
per
m
Un
et
V i ce
Evaluation
Virtue
ble
ss i
Moral
Baier on Trust & Distrust
l
ica
Are Moral Values Gendered?
Baier on Trust & Distrust
Evaluation
Is the soldiering/mothering analogy a good one (question 9)? Why
or why not?
b
Per
mi
Et
h
Immoral
ible
iss
al
hic
Im
per
m
Un
et
V i ce
Evaluation
Virtue
ble
ss i
Moral
Baier on Trust & Distrust
l
ica
Are Moral Values Gendered?
Baier on Trust & Distrust
Evaluation
Baier notes that her
. . . argument does depend upon the assumption that
a decent morality will not depend for its stability on
forces to which it gives no moral recognition. (8)
What does Baier mean by this and is the constraint reasonable?
b
Per
mi
Et
h
Immoral
ible
iss
al
hic
Im
per
m
Un
et
V i ce
Evaluation
Virtue
ble
ss i
Moral
Baier on Trust & Distrust
l
ica
Are Moral Values Gendered?
Baier on Trust & Distrust
Evaluation
Should “judicious untrustworthiness”, as well as “appropriate
trustworthiness” etc., be regarded as virtues (16, question 11)?
b
Per
mi
Et
h
Immoral
ible
iss
al
hic
Im
per
m
Un
et
V i ce
Discussion
Virtue
ble
ss i
Moral
Baier on Trust & Distrust
l
ica
Are Moral Values Gendered?
Baier on Trust & Distrust
Discussion
Should we be concerned if girl and boy children, and women and
men, approach the same moral questions in quite different ways?
Could an ethics of trust resolve the resulting conflicts? Should it?
b
Virtue
ble
ss i
Per
mi
Et
h
Im
per
m
ible
iss
al
hic
Moral
Immoral
Feminist Ethics
l
ica
Are Moral Values Gendered?
Un
et
V i ce
Feminist Ethics
Important notes:
I
Ethics of care is not the only alternative proposed by feminists.
I
Indeed, some feminists argue that Gilligan’s claims are not
feminist, are antithetical to feminist concerns etc.
I
Certainly, Gilligan’s position has been used as part of a
backlash against feminism, especially in the United States.
This is not necessarily a criticism of Gilligan’s position itself.
I
I
Although some feminists are inclined to think that one should
be more careful than Gilligan was.
b
Virtue
ble
ss i
Per
mi
Et
h
Im
per
m
ible
iss
al
hic
Moral
Immoral
Feminist Ethics
l
ica
Are Moral Values Gendered?
Un
et
V i ce
Feminist Ethics
This is slightly dated but still useful:
Rosmarie Tong’s Taxonomy (1993)
I
Feminine ethics:
I
Ethics of care
I
Maternal ethics
e.g. Nel Noddings, Virginia Held
e.g. Sara Ruddick, Caroline Whitbeck, (earlier?) Virginia Held
I
Feminist ethics
I
Lesbian ethics
e.g. Annette Baier, Susan Sherwin, Marilyn Friedman
e.g. Mary Daly, Sarah Hoagland, Marilyn Frye
b