Feminist Ethics is an attempt to revise, reformulate, or rethink those aspects of traditional western ethics that depreciate or devalue women's moral experience. Among others, feminist philosopher Alison Jaggar faults traditional western ethics for failing women in five related ways. First, it shows little concern for women's as opposed to men's interests and rights. Second, it dismisses as morally uninteresting the problems that arise in the so-called private world, the realm in which women cook, clean, and care for the young, the old, and the sick. Third, it suggests that, on the average, women are not as morally developed as men. Fourth, it overvalues culturally masculine traits like independence, autonomy, separation, mind, reason, culture, transcendence, war, and death, and undervalues culturally feminine traits like interdependence, community, connection, body, emotion, nature, immanence, peace, and life. Fifth, and finally, it favors culturally masculine ways of moral reasoning that emphasize rules, universality, and impartiality over culturally feminine ways of moral reasoning that emphasize relationships, particularity, and partiality (Jaggar, "Feminist Ethics," 1992).
Jaggar’s five Criticisms of Traditional male-oriented ethics
These are the five criticisms of traditional male Oriented ethics according from Jaggar -
a) There is a lack of concern for women's interests to the extend that it relates to woman.
b) It neglects women's issues by confining them to a socially isolated domestic realm of society that does not rise to the level of legitimate political regulation.
c) It denies the moral agency of women in the sense. that women are said to lack the capacity for moral reasoning.
d) There is a preference for masculine values over female ones.
e) There is a devaluation of women's moral experience in favour of male notions of moral rules, judgements about particular actions, impartial moral assessments and contractual agreements.
Moral Particularism, Mutually Inclusive Option, Feminist Ethics, Care and Virtue
a) Moral Particularism:
The possibility of moral thought and judgement does not depend on the provision of a suitable supply moral principles. of
b) Mutually Inclusive option:
Mutually Inclusive option is taking the things are done together. a choice where
For example opening a window to allow a breeze in may also allow street noise in. If we want air then the both are mutually inclusive.
c) Feminist Ethics:
1. The assumption that women and their experiences have moral significance.
2. the assertion that attentiveness, subjective knowledge, can illuminate moral issues.
3. the claim that a feminist critique of male distortions must be accompanied by a critique of all discriminatory distortions.
4. The admonition that feminists ethics engage in analysis of the context and attend to the power dynamics of that context.
5. The injunction that feminist ethics require action directed at achieving social justice.
d) Virtue ethics:
Virtue ethics is about understanding behaviours and moral character in terms of moral quantities definable. These moral quantities exist outside rules, regulations or outcomes of moral agency.
e) Care ethics:
Care ethics is firmly ascribed to either
1. deontology (rules & regulations) and
2. consequentialism (desirable effect should dictate agency).
