Ethics of Care

The ethics of care is a normative ethical theory; that is, a theory about what makes actions right or wrong. It is one of a cluster of normative ethical theories that were developed by feminists in the second half of the twentieth century. While consequentialist and deontological ethical theories emphasize universal standards and impartiality, ethics of care emphasize the importance of response. "The shift in moral perspective is manifest by a change in the moral question from "what is just?" to "how to respond?" Ethics of care criticizes the applications of universal standards as "morally problematic, since it breeds moral blindness or indifference."

The basic beliefs of the theory are:

1. All individuals are interdependent for achieving their interests
2. Those particularly vulnerable to our choices and their outcomes deserve extra consideration to be measured according to
   1. the level of their vulnerability to one's choices
   2. the level of their affectedness by one's choices and no one else's
3. It is necessary to attend to the contextual details of the situation in order to safeguard and promote the actual specific interests of those involved