Class Logistics

• Museum trip details:
• Departure time corrected to 10:55 AM to arrive by around noon.
• Students must confirm if they are bringing someone to the museum by Monday.
• Quiz scheduled for Tuesday covering:
• Content from John Stuart Mill and Carol Gilligan;
• Upcoming final quiz includes Held and Angela Davis topics.

Discussion on Care Ethics

• Recap of last class brainstorming regarding care ethics:
• Definition and characteristics of care were explored;
• Importance of understanding who performs care work in society.
• Key points discussed in class regarding care:
• Attention: Care involves special, voluntary attention to others’ needs.
• Caring vs Caring About:
  • Caring entails active involvement (e.g., caring for someone who is sick),
  • Caring about is more abstract (e.g., holding opinions about social issues without action).
• Care focuses on the uniqueness of situations rather than universal rules (contrasting with Kantian approaches).
• Distinction between Impartiality in Kantian ethics and the Relational Approach in care ethics, which emphasizes the needs and experiences of different individuals.

Carol Gilligan's Contributions

• Gilligan's Background:
• Student of Lawrence Kohlberg, known for his stages of moral development.
• Introduction of the idea that traditional moral theories have excluded care ethics.
• Gilligan's research findings:
• Girls scored lower in Kohlberg's moral development theory; this led to further investigation into how girls interact with moral dilemmas differently.
• Case Study: Heinz's Dilemma
  • Boys tended to rely on universal moral principles (e.g., stealing is wrong),
  • Girls were inclined to consider relational contexts (e.g., finding a solution to save the wife).
• Gilligan criticized traditional moral theories as being masculinist, suggesting they implicitly favor male models of morality.
• She advocates for a care-based moral approach prioritizing relationships and responsiveness over universal rules.

Games and Socialization

• Children's games reflect different learning outcomes based on gender:
• Boys' games tend to promote competition, legal resolution of disputes, and longer game duration.
• Girls' games focus on relationship maintenance and may end abruptly due to interpersonal conflicts.
• Significance of social norms and expectations in play, illustrating how gender divisions can influence developmental paths.

Gender Divisions of Labor

• Discussion on who typically does the work of care in society, emphasizing:
• Mothers often bear the burden of care work;
• Acknowledgment of racial and gender stratifications in care work responsibilities, often involving women of color in underpaid positions.
• Importance of recognizing emotional skills related to care which are often undervalued in broader societal contexts.

Classroom Reflection:

• Students were encouraged to share experiences from childhood games:
• Examples of different types of games played (competitive vs cooperative),
• Importance of relationships over strict adherence to competition in games among girls, emphasizing equality and negotiation skills.
• Gilligan's theory illustrates that learning about care and relationships is just as valuable as learning about competition and rules.

Final Thoughts:

• Gilligan emphasizes the need to redefine moral standards to include both masculine and feminine perspectives, advocating for a more inclusive framework of ethics that acknowledges diverse experiences and values.