Towards the universalization of ethics of care:

a feminist perspective based on Nel Noddings’ concepts

Abstract

This article approaches the Ethics of Care from the perspective of Nel Noddings. Its objective is to point out the possibility of a universalizable Ethics of Care, since Noddings does not offer systematic criteria for the Ethics of Care, because she wants to move away from the concepts of principialist ethics and concentrates on the emotional factor involved in morality, especially in the traditional female moral education of patriarchal Western culture. The article also tries to search a feminist analysis in Noddings' concepts. It was found that there are alternatives for the Ethics of Care to become universalizable by the ethics of responsible care. For this purpose a differentiation between natural emotions and moral emotions was constructed in addition to the proposal to expand the spheres of care through feelings of empathy, simpathy and responsibility.