ABSTRACT
An ethic of care is needs-based. When I am one-caring in a situation, I am attentive – I listen to whatever needs are expressed – and, if possible, I try to respond positively (Noddings, 1984). Sometimes it is easy to do so. The one addressing me may want only a shared moment, directions to an office on campus, or something as simple as ‘please pass the salt’. There are times, however, when I cannot respond by meeting the expressed needs. I may not have the resources to do so, or I may believe it is not my place to fill the need, or I may mistakenly assess the need as a mere desire – even frivolous, or – in the worst case – I may judge the need to be harmful or immoral. In all cases, however – even the last – I try to respond in a way that will maintain the caring relation. It is not only the decision at hand that must be justified but also a future that depends on what I do now. It is not enough to make an ethically justified decision in a particular case such as firing an incompetent teacher or failing a lazy student. I must also consider how best to help the person who feels hurt by my decision. An ethic of care is, in this sense, future-oriented. Its work begins where an ethic of justice often ends.
