Is morality a matter of justice or a web of care?

Health · Published 18 October 2026 Swipe more like this →

In short: For decades, psychology suggested that moral maturity was defined by abstract principles and individual autonomy. In 1982, Carol Gilligan challenged this, arguing that for many, morality is not about standing alone, but about the responsibility of staying connected to others. Her work sparked a revolution in gender studies.

In her seminal 1982 work, *In a Different Voice*, Carol Gilligan critiqued Lawrence Kohlberg’s stages of moral development. Kohlberg’s model, based on a 1958 dissertation, primarily sampled boys and concluded that girls reached lower levels of moral maturity. Gilligan argued this was a flaw in measurement: Kohlberg’s scoring favored 'principled' reasoning—common in men—over moral argumentation centered on relationships, which she found more common in women.

Gilligan proposed a framework where justice and care are not mutually exclusive but represent different orientations. She identified three stages of maturity in women: the 'preconventional' focus on individual survival; the 'conventional' stage of self-sacrifice and goodness; and the 'postconventional' stage of taking responsibility for the consequences of choices. While men often define themselves through separation and 'I' statements, Gilligan found that women frequently define themselves through relationships, viewing care as an ultimate responsibility rather than a secondary emotion.

The theory remains a subject of intense academic debate. Critics like Christina Hoff Sommers have accused Gilligan of failing to provide raw data for her research, while others argue her work is 'essentialist,' assuming female differences are fixed rather than socially contingent. Despite these critiques, Gilligan's 'ethics of care' has moved beyond gender studies into modern philosophy, influencing how we think about human well-being as a group project involving emotions and relational bonds.

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