Customer Reviews

The Maternal Factor: Two Paths to Morality

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Lets face it. Care ethics is confusing to a lot of people. It has no simple formula or rules for right and wrong. "Care" is a common word so everyone thinks they understand it. Traditional philosophers have a hard time with care because of its valorization of emotion and context. Text book authors seem to think that what Carol Gilligan wrote in the 1980's defines care ethics. Nel Noddings is the preeminent care theorist and The Maternal Factor is her greatest and most elegant work.

In a short volume that is not jargon laden, Noddings explains care ethics with accessible insight and examples. This book is destined to be the defining work of care ethics, the most important breakthrough in ethical theory in the last quarter century. This is a rare work of philosophy that is both an easy read and yet highly thought provoking. I recommend this book to anyone who wants to expand their understanding of ethics beyond rules, consequences, and virtues.

Once again, Noddings stays true to her theory of caring in this book. She connects it a bit into global affairs, and defends it as a theory that empowers rather than subordinates women.