The Generalized and the Concrete Other: The Kohlberg-Gilligan Controversy and Moral Theory

Benhabib’s project is to articulate an “anticipatory-utopian critique of universalistic moral theories from a feminist perspective.” In pursuit of this aim, she briefly recounts the history of universalistic moral philosophy, pinpoints two major weaknesses in this view, and sketches an alternative account of moral inquiry and moral relations. Throughout her discussion, Benhabib reminds us of various ways in which conceptions of the person and moral thought are gender coded.