The western ethic of care or an Afro-communitarian ethic? Specifying the right relational morality

Bibliographic Data

ID12893286
AuthorsThaddeus Metz (0000-0001-9861-2408, University of Johannesburg, corresponding author)
Year2013
Volume9
Issue1
Pages77-92
Publication date2013-02-04
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenueJournal of Global Ethics (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1744-9626 • E-ISSN: 1744-9634
PublisherRoutledge (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1080/17449626.2012.756421
OpenAlexW2056257261
LanguageEN
Citations received43
References cited27

In her essay, ‘The curious coincidence of feminine and African moralities’ (1987), Sandra Harding was perhaps the first to note parallels between a typical Western feminist ethic and a characteristically African, i.e. indigenous sub-Saharan, approach to morality. Beyond Harding's analysis, one now frequently encounters the suggestion, in a variety of discourses in both the Anglo-American and sub-Saharan traditions, that an ethic of care and an African ethic are more or less the same or share many commonalities. While the two ethical perspectives are indeed sisters, in this article I argue, first, that they are not identical twins, and, more strongly, that the family resemblance between the two is significantly less than has been recognised. I highlight key differences between representative forms of an ethic of care and a sub-Saharan communitarian morality, after which I argue, second, that the latter better captures some central feminist concerns and moral considerations generally. That is, I maintain that an African ideal of community, when understood in a philosophically refined way, provides an important, relational corrective to the ethic of care

Environmental ethics · Epistemology · Ideal (ethics · Indigenous · Morality · Parallels · Sociology · African cultural and philosophical studies · Feminism, Gender, and Sexuality Studies · Gender Studies · Philosophy · Political Philosophy and Ethics · Ecology

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