Feminist Ethics

Question 1

Feminists have critiqued other ethics on 5 fronts:

Answer 1

• show less concern for women’s issues
• show less concern for private spheres
• imply that women are less morally mature
• overrates masculine traits while underrating feminine ones (strength, rationality etc.)
• favour male ways of moralizing (rules, rights, universality) over female ways (relationships, partiality, responsibilities)

Question 2

Standpoint theory:

Answer 2

• assumes that morality is timeless, contextless, and pure

- tells moral agents what they ought to do no matter who they are or what form of social life they inhabit

Question 3

Ethics should not be a ____ _____ to follow. Instead, it should arise from …

Answer 3

• universal code

- the interactions between and among people

Question 4

Ethics are ______.

Answer 4

interpersonal

Question 5

Moral philosophers who forget standpoint theory will wind up representing as ‘universal’ a point of view that best represents …

Answer 5

only a socially advantaged group of white men

Question 6

One must be careful not to ____ _____ by becoming _____.

Answer 6

• domination

- dominating

Question 7

Male Ethics: Kohlberg’s ethical stages:

Answer 7

• young children do as they’re told to avoid punishment
• children help others only if they get helped first
• adolescents adhere to social norms to get approval
• adolescents develop a sense of duty and defer to authority to gain respect and admiration
• adults adopt a basic utilitarian perspective (do as you please but don’t hurt others)
• mature adults develop a universal Kantian ethical perspective

Question 8

Gilligan’s stages:

Answer 8

1. overemphasize self interests
2. overemphasize others’ interests
3. weave together self and others’ interests relationally

Question 9

Women understand _____’s language of _____ and _____ rules, but men tend not to understand or value the language of ____ and ____.

Answer 9

• Kohlberg
• rational
• universal
• caring
• nurturing

Question 10

We need level ____ thinking to guide _____ _____.

Answer 10

• 3

- moral deliberation

Question 11

Level 3:

Answer 11

relational caring

Question 12

Traditional ethics assume ____ between rational agents.

Answer 12

equality

Question 13

Relationships are hardly ____.

Answer 13

equal

Question 14

Without caring, inequality…

Answer 14

can turn to abuse

Question 15

With caring, inequality…

Answer 15

becomes nurturing assistance

Question 16

With level 3 caring, the relationship between …., rather than the relationship between ….., should guide us

Answer 16

• a nurturing person and a child

- two rational contractors

Question 17

Can an ethic of care go too far?

Answer 17

• yes, if you care about someone no matter what they do

- if you care about them even when it’s unreciprocated

Question 18

Distorted/undistorted care:

Answer 18

• caring cannot be demanded or forced
• because women are not yet equal in society, an ethic of care remains difficult
• as long as women do more than their fair share of care giving work, both sexes will remain morally deprived

Question 19

Caring for someone means 2 things:

Answer 19

• really understanding what they need and what is important to them
• be willing to change yourself if that is required

Question 20

You must also care about _____:

Answer 20

• yourself

- really understand who you are and what is important to you (no continual self sacrifice)

Question 21

Moral principle for care-focused feminists:

Answer 21

caring relationships should be nurtured and this should guide our actions

Question 22

Blending the 2 aspects of care-focused feminists means ______ with others. It is ______.

Answer 22

• engaging

- interpersonal

Question 23

How are moral life and social life intertwined?

Answer 23

• moral responsibilities flow from our social position
• ie. gender, age, economic status, race, other factors distribute powers and forms of recognition differentially and hierarchically

Question 24

In power focused feminist ethics, questions of _____, ______ and ______ now become central (in contrast to questions of _____, _______, and _____).

Answer 24

• authority
• credibility
• representation
• rationality
• universality
• logic

Question 25

Not everyone has the same power to ____ or ______ moral terms, which means what is _____ for one person may not be for another.

Answer 25

- set or change | - ethical

Question 26

Bullying only happens from _____ to _____. The _____ can engage in similar actions without _____.

Answer 26

- powerful | - powerless

Question 27

Changing ____ ____ ____ is necessary before equality, justice, and/or caring can arise.

Answer 27

oppressive power relations

Question 28

You can't be ____ within an _____ system.

Answer 28

- ethical | - unethical

Question 29

We must learn to see our _____ in society and use that to help craft a more _____ world.

Answer 29

- position | - equitable

Question 30

Power _____ are not bad in themselves. It depends on...

Answer 30

- differentials | - what one does with power

Question 31

How do we change power relations?

Answer 31

- through careful and attentive interactions with others - for the powerless: craft a version of themselves that resists the positioning of the powerful - for the powerful: listen openly and be receptive to the critique of the harm being caused

Question 32

4 goals of power-focused feminists:

Answer 32

- articulate moral critiques of actions and practices that perpetuate women's (and other oppressed groups) subordination - prescribe morally justifiable ways of resisting such actions and practices - envision morally desirable alternatives for such actions and practices - take women's (and other oppressed groups) moral experience seriously, though not uncritically

Question 33

How is oppression not single-tracked?

Answer 33

- we also have to include class, race, sexuality, nationality, age - these form interlocking systems of oppression - we must challenge these interlocking systems to achieve justice/equality

Question 34

Moral principle for status feminists:

Answer 34

moral actions are those that challenge interlocking systems of oppression

Question 35

Moral principle for AU:

Answer 35

act so as to maximize well-being/happiness

Question 36

Moral principle for RU:

Answer 36

act according to a universal rule that would maximize society's overall well-being/happiness

Question 37

Moral principle for PU:

Answer 37

act so as to maximize satisfaction of true preferences/desires

Question 38

Moral principle for contractualism:

Answer 38

in legit contractual situations, we owe it to others to act in ways they could not reasonably object to

Question 39

Moral principle for deontology:

Answer 39

drive moral norms from categorical imperatives

Question 40

Moral principle for agent centred deontology:

Answer 40

CI1 (universalizability) gives you negative perfect duties you must follow and imperfect ones your prerogatives allow flexibility in following

Question 41

Moral principle for patient centred deontology:

Answer 41

CI2 generates rules by focusing on categorical right others have to be treated as an end not a means

Question 42

Moral principle for virtue ethics:

Answer 42

use practical wisdom (to find the golden mean) to act in accordance with virtuous character to achieve eudaimonia

Question 43

2 things virtue ethics needs:

Answer 43

- knowledge of virtues - practical wisdom - commitment to eudaimonia

Question 44

2 streams of power focused ethics:

Answer 44

- societal/group | - individual

Question 45

Societal/group power focused ethics:

Answer 45

- current oppression must be challenged first in order to have an ethical world - future oppression must be avoided next

Question 46

Individual power focused ethics:

Answer 46

- abuses of power must be challenged first for relationships to be healthy - future abuses must be avoided next

Question 47

Moral principle for status feminists:

Answer 47

moral actions are those that challenge interlocking systems of oppression and abuses of power