Table Of ContentM O R A L
BOUNDARIES
M 0 R A L
BOUNDARIES
A Political Argument
for an Ethic of Care
Joan C. Tronto
ROUTLEDGE
New York• London
Published in r993 by
Routledge
An imprint of Routledge, Chapman and Hall, Inc.
29 West 3 5 Street
New York, NY 10001
Published in Great Britain by
Routledge
1 I New Fetter Lane
London EC4P 4EE
Copyright@ 1993 by Routledge, Chapman and Hall, Inc.
Cover art: Thomas Cole, The Voyage of Life: Childhood, Ailsa
Melon Bruce Fund, ©1993, National Gallery of Art, Washington.
Printed in the United States on acid free paper.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or
reproduced or utilized in any form or by any electronic,
mechanical or other means, now known or hereafter invented,
including photocopying and recording, or in any information
storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in Publication Data
Tronto,Joan C.
Moral boundaries: a political argument for an ethic of care /
Joan C. Tronto
p. cm.
Includes index (p. ).
ISBN o-4r5-90641-5 (acid-free paper)
ISBN 0-415-90642-3 (pbk.: acid-free paper)
1. Feminism-Moral and ethical aspects. 2. Caring
Moral and ethical aspects. 3. Sex role 4. Women-Attitudes
I. Title.
HQ1206.T75 1993
305.42-dc20
93-10700
CIP
British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data also available.
To My Parents
To the Staff, Doctors and Nurses of
the Westchester County Medical Center
To My Sisters, Brothers-In-Law,
Nephews and Niece
To My Relatives, Friends, Lovers and Colleagues
Who Have Cared and Shared With Me
CONTENTS
PREFACE
PART ONE: Introduction
Chapter 1: Moral Boundaries and Political Change I
The Power of Context and the Context of Power • Three Moral
Boundaries • Women's Morality As a Strategic Predicament •
Argument of This Book
PART Two: Against "Women's Morality"
Chapter 2: Universalistic Morality and Moral Sentiments 2 5
Morality and Forms of Life • Universalistic Morality and
Eighteenth Century Life • Social Distance and the Demise of
Moral Sentiments • The Containment of Women and the
Engendering of Moral Sentiment • Lessons for an Ethic of Care
Chapter 3: Is Morality Gendered? 6r
Lawrence Kohlberg: The Virtuous Elite • Carol Gilligan's
Different Voice and its Limits • Gender l'cieology and Forms of
Privilege At Work
PART THREE: For An Ethic of Care
Chapter 4: Care IOI
Defining Care • Marginalizing Care • The Promise of Care:
Care's Power
Vtt
Chapter 5: An Ethic of Care I 2 7
The Practice of An Ethic of Care • Moral Dilemmas in the
Practice of Care • Expanding Our Moral Terrain • Ethics and
Politics
Chapter 6: Care and Political Theory r 57
Against a "Morality First" Strategy • Care As a Political Ideal
o
Care And Political Strategy • Moral Boundaries and a Political
Concept of Care
NOTES I8I
INDEX 2r9
viii
PREFACE
As an American who came of age while the United States
waged war in Southeast Asia, I have long wondered how my
fellow citizens could meet questions of profound global and
domestic injustice with acquiescence. In a society structured
by racism and sexism, where only lip service is paid to the
dignity of ordinary people and workers, I ended my own pas
sivity by becoming active in the feminist movement. Feminism
for me embodied a concern with justice and celebrated the
ordinary lives of women, children, and men from all races,
religions, and ethnic backgrounds.
I chose to become a political theorist because I thought it
would help me to make sense of the world. Given the sense of
urgency to understand the world that impelled me to study
politics, I am often disappointed by how tame and irrelevant
"theory" becomes for those who live outside of academe. In
this book I obviously write as a political theorist to others
(
within the academy, but I hope as well to write to the women
and men who are looking for another way to understand and
to act against the continued injustices of our world.
In one sense, the feminist movement is a part of the global
wave of movements for liberation that have marked the second
half of the twentieth century. Theorists within these movements
have often built their claims for justice on pre-existing social
IX
MORAL BOUNDARIES
theories. Feminist theorists are not alone in feeling that the old
paradigms cannot adequately describe the realities that exist and
that require transformation. Most of us who devote our time to
thinking about these questions would agree that there needs to
be a shift in our vision, so that we can see the world differently.
While I do not offer a complete alternative in this book, my hope
is to provide a glimpse into a different world, one where the
daily caring of people for each other is a valued premise of
human existence.
I have used the metaphor of boundaries deliberately. To call
attention to moral boundaries raises two sets of questions,
both of which inform what I try to do in this book. The first
question is strategic: by noticing boundaries, we notice what
they include and exclude. What shall we do if we wish to
change what is included and excluded by them? The second
question is visionary: what alternative vision informs our
account of what moral life should be? My answer to this ques
tion is simple: our account of moral life should provide us
with a way to respect and deal justly with others. In order to
do so, we must honor what most people spend their lives
doing: caring for themselves, for others, and for the world.
In this glimpse into an alternative vision of life, one cen
tered on human care and interdependence, questions of gender
and other categories of social life that structure our realities,
such as race and class, remain pivotal. In most societies, care
work is distributed by gender, by caste and class, and often, by
race and ethnicity as well. In this book I lay the ground for
more thorough descriptions and analyses of the actual prac
tices of caring in various societies. I invite readers to think
about the application of my account of care to their own lives,
to their own situations, and to their own societies.
My work may not seem revolutionary to those for whom it
describes daily life. I start from assumptions about the need
for a liberal, democratic, pluralistic society in order for all
humans to flourish. In this regard, I part company with some
X
