Abstract

Starting from Vandenberg’s criticism of feminine ethics, this paper takes up the challenge in search of the nature of the ‘ethics of care’. After an account of Noddings’ position, the central issues of feminist ethics are placed within wider ethical debate. Attention is given to the following issues: care and justice, universalism and particularity, symmetrical reciprocity, and trust. The considerations that are discussed generate not only a different way to conceive practices in society but also a theory that transcends the way theory and practice are usually diametrically opposed. Finally, the paper outlines how care is a central concept for education and indicates in what sense it implies integrity and social justice.