The Ethics of Care and Justice

This article argues that the relationship between liberal justice and care has been conceived incorrectly. Liberal justice theorists tend to relegate care to the personal sphere and thereby conceptualize it as a form of self-interested action. Care theorists, such as Carol Gilligan, have recognized that the language of care tends to be ignored by justice theorists, but they have tended to incorrectly identify justice and care as two genderized moralities. This article argues that, in fact, justice theories, such as Rawls' argument in A Theory of Justice, presuppose care. This article concludes that liberal justice theory should incorporate its own dependence on the ‘ethics of care’ into its theory, and work toward a conception of justice and care as reciprocal and interdependent.