Caring: A Feminine Approach to Ethics and Moral Education (Paperback)

~ (Author) "ETHICS, THE PHILOSOPHICAL study of morality, has concentrated for the most part on moral reasoning..." (more)
Key Phrases: information speck, motivational displacement, receptive joy, Martin Buber, Aunt Phoebe, Peter Singer (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Review

"Instead of exploring how moral reasoning develops, or attempting to teach moral choice through rational argument, Noddings examines what it means to care and be cared for, how caring for another person relates to the larger moral picture, and how caring ultimately functions in an educational context. . . . Neither a how-to book nor a syrupy celebration of universal love, Caring is both for general readers and specialists."--New York Times -- Review --This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

Product Description

Ethics has been discussed largely in the language of the father, Nel Noddings believes: in principles and propostions, in terms such as justification, fairness, and equity. The mother's voice has been silent.
The view of ethics Noddings offers in this book is a feminine view. "This does not imply," she writes, "that all women will accept it or that most men will reject it; indeed there is no reason why men should not embrace it. It is feminine in the deep classical sense--rooted in receptivity, relatedness, and responsiveness. It does not imply either that logic is to be discarded or that logic is alien to women. It represents an aternative to present views, one that begins with the moral attitude or longing for goodness and not with moral reasoning."
What is at the basis of moral action? An altruism acquired by the application of rule and principle? Or, as Noddings asserts, caring and the memory of being cared for? With numerous examples to supplement her rich theoretical discussion, Noddings builds a compelling philosophical argument for an ethics based on natural caring, as in the care of a mother for her child. The ethical behavior that grows out of natural caring has at its core as care-filled receptivity to those involved in any moral situation, and leaves behind the rigidity of rule and principle to focus on what is particular and unique in human relations. "The hand that steadied us as we learned to ride our first bicycle did not provide propositional knowledge, but it guided and supported us all the same, and we finished up 'knowing how.'"
Noddings's discussion is far-ranging, as she considers whether organizations, which operate at a remove from the caring relationship, can truly be called ethical. She discusses the extent to which we may truly care for plants, animals, or ideas. Finally, she proposes a realignment of education to encourage and reward not just rationality and trained intelligence, but also enhanced sensitivity in moral matters.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 224 pages
• Publisher: University of California Press; 4th Edition. edition (February 7, 1986)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0520057473
• ISBN-13: 978-0520057470
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 5.6 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 11.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #618,003 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

25 of 27 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Paradigm-shifting work, September 24, 2004

By	staranise (austin, tx USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Caring: A Feminine Approach to Ethics and Moral Education, Second Edition, with a New Preface (Paperback)

I am somewhat amused by some of the other reviews here. Having gotten some scathing reviews of my own work, it is (sadly) refreshing to see that people will find horrible things to say even about books that are truly brilliant. You truly can't please everyone.

Aesthetically, Nodding's book is a marvel. Unlike what some of the trite student reviewers here would have one believe, Nodding's book is fluidly, lucidly, and tenderly written. Rather than merely spewing psychological rhetoric, Noddings introduces and explains her subject carefully, eloquently, and beatufiully. This book makes it clear that Noddings is not only an educator and thinker but a true writer as well.

Her explanation and development of her arguments for an ethic of care is, in my opinion, unparalleled. I was not reading her book for it's educational implications, and did not read those chapters. I was reading in research of a groundwork for spiritual ethics, and though Noddings is adamant that her ethic is not grounded in agapism (an argument she supports admirably) there is a certain spirituality that underlies her work, though this is not based in any kind of transcendent Goodness, but rather the immanent bonds that hold people and their environment together.

I had been a student and advocate of traditional rights based ethics for years, but reading this book (in conjunction with Carol Gilligan's work) has made a convert of me. Although Noddings stresses the fact that an ethic of care must be situational and each case considered in its context, her ethic also lends itself extremely well as a model for faith (in the sense James Fowler uses the word) and a model for being in the world.

This was truly a paradigm shifting read for me, which is why I give it the 5 stars. It's not every day you read a book that allows you to adopt a new way of looking at the world and of being in the world. I can't say enough good things about this book. I wish everyone interested in relationships and community would read this work.

20 of 22 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A refreshing and innovative approach to ethics/education, May 9, 1999

By A Customer

I also read this book in a class on ethics and education at Rutgers -- not only did I love the book, the professor and the class were also fascinating. While I will admit that Noddings' terminology takes a little getting used to, I found her ideas to be worthwhile and interesting. Noddings sees the teacher as the "one-caring" and the student as the "cared-for". The teacher's role calls for her to see students as the best that they can be and to accept students for what they are while always working to help them develop the student's "best self". What a phenomenal idea! I am a teacher in a large urban school and often, the kids I teach do not have anyone who believes in their "best selves" -- no one has taught them how to dream and what steps to take to realize that vision. Without dreams and plans, kids can not grow. Many of the kids in my school do not feel there is much out there for them. One of the fundamental ways to reach out to these kids is by CARING. I applaud Noddings for pursuing the road less travelled.

19 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Terribly Underrated, December 19, 2002

By	Josh (Oregon) - See all my reviews

I haven't actually read the whole book, so I can't speak to the educational implications.
However, I have written two term papers on the "Ethic of Care" or "Feminine Ethic" she proposes in the book (which has required me reading that section at least 20 times). I can say that she has written an ethic that is horribly misunderstood by most readers. If you actually take the time to philosophically analyze her theory, you will find it incredibly more complicated than a cursory read shows. The implications of her theory are astounding, and it should not be underappreciated.
There are a few reviews here which make untenable claims about her introducing nothing new to the issue of morality, a completely ludicrous claim. Her Ethic of Care is not simple by any definition, and her book is part of a revolution that centers moral thought on concrete caring relationships instead of abstract, universal concepts such as justice and truth.
Her claim that men and women think about morality differently is not unjustifiable: men ruled philosophical and ethical thought for 2500 years and no ethic of care resulted; women have been on the philosophy scene for about 30 years and a whole revolution in moral thought has taken place, mostly in this direction. If that's not evidence, what is?
Her theory has intrigued me enough to want to buy this book and read beyond the philosophical chapters to those that concentrate more on educational praxis. I would like to teach one day, albeit at a collegiate level, and I think she would offer a very interesting perspective on education and teaching.

P.S. Anyone that teaches at Columbia and Stanford does not write "trash" ipso facto, as some people writing negative reviews have stated. If that's true, the people writing those reviews would be teaching there as well; let's hope such pretentious people with no background to make such claims never teach beyond a high school level unless they wise up and realize they're not the omniscient centers of the earth.