ABSTRACT
Nel Noddings is renowned internationally for her work in care theory, with good reason. Care theory embraces what Noddings describes as “a fundamental human need”: “to care for and be cared for” (1992, p. xi). Hence caring is not a mere detail which is read onto human persons but rather is a fundamental aspect of the human condition. Noddings explains that, “The only universals recognized by care theorists are those describing the human condition: the commonalities of birth, death, physical and emotional needs, and the longing to be cared for” (1995, p. 188). Noddings’ claim also highlights the nub of her philosophical contribution: that caring is relational. Thus “‘carer’ and ‘cared-for’ are not permanent labels attached in stable and distinct ways to two different sets of people. They are labels for parties in an encounter or in a series of encounters in a continuing relationship” (1995, p. 189). Whilst it is possible to identify the carer and the cared-for, these are not categories that can be understood in isolation of each other. Both parties are held in an ongoing dance of care. According to Noddings, “Both parties, not just one of them, are constrained by the ethic to care” (1995, p. 189).
