Elucidating the Role of Care in Ethical Decision-Making and Action

Abstract

This chapter systematically considers the implications of care ethics across all four stages of ethical decision-making and action described by James Rest (Moral Development: Advances in Research and Theory, 1986 and Moral Development in the Professions: Psychology and Applied ethics, 1994): moral awareness, moral evaluation, moral intention, and moral action. The chapter suggests that care theory may differentiate from traditional moral theories that are typically seen as primarily relevant only to the processes of moral evaluation or judgment comprising Rest’s second phase of ethical decision-making. In other words, care ethics is more than a normative approach to ethical decision making. Furthermore, the chapter contends that certain distinctive features of contemporary care ethics not only have implications for every phase of the ethical decision-making process, but also, that these features of care can enhance individual moral performance within each phase. The chapter begins with a brief review of the nature and defining characteristics of care ethics followed by a discussion of care’s implications for Rest’s stages. Business and management examples are integrated throughout. Finally, directions for future research are provided.