Feminist Ethics

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Feminist Ethics Ethical Development

• 4001 C

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Agenda

• Kohlbergs stage theory of moral development
• Gilligans two-mode description of moral
  explanations
• Morality gender
• What do GA Tech students say?
• Moral imagination, cognitive metaphors and
  politics
• Ethical theories in a nutshell

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Kohlbergs stage theory

• Stage theories
• Based on longitudinal studies
• Stages rather than gradual development
• Stages as progression/improvement
• Stages build on predecessors
• Kohlbergs six-stage theory
• Based on 20-year study of 84 boys
• Stages 1-3 From self-satisfaction to helping
  pleasing others
• Stages 4-6 From social consequences to abstract
  principles

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Gilligans two-mode analysis

• Ethic of justice principle
• Math with people
• Should Heinz steal?
• Example Jake
• Morality as constraint on self-interest and
  aggression
• Predominant in males
• But not masculine ethics
• Concentrate on rules, principles and impersonal
  solutions
• Rights-based

• Ethic of care
• Rooted in psychology
• Q Should Heinz steal?
• Example Amy
• Predominant in females
• But not feminine ethics
• Concentrate on context, relationships and
  implications
• Morality as way to structure negotiation of
  solutions
• Response-based

What are the implications for ethical theory
practice?
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What (or how) do you think?

• Detailed study of a previous section
• With more women students!
• Analysis, plus your responses to same questions
• For which questions where there is a gender
  difference are the differences predictable from
  Gilligans research?

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CS 4001B SurveyMale/Female Responses
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Gender differences in responses
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Moral imagination

• Moral thinking isnt purely rational
• But its not just feeling
• Its scenario-based imaginative thinking
• Mark Johnson Moral Imagination
• Subsequent work by Lakoff and Johnson
• Cognitive metaphors a different psychological
  theory
• Space, trajectory, force, grasping, etc.
• Parental nurturance/discipline, reciprocity
• Lakoffs Moral Politics
• Morality metaphors
• Morality as a strong father
• Morality as a nurturing mother
• How liberals and conservatives think (?!)

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Ethical landscape
Categorical imperative
Use abstract principles
What should I do?
Rights
Think about outcomes
Normative ethics
Utilitarianism
How should I be?
Take responsibility Existentialism,
poppsychology
Virtues
Kohlbergs stages
Developmental ethics
Get involved in context
Gilligans modes
Feminist ethics