Review article
https://doi.org/10.34075/cs.56.3.10
Woman from the ancient imperative of “self-care” to the ethical imperative of “care for the other”: a feminist and Christian view
Marijo Volarević
; Catholic faculty of Theology, University of Split, Split, Croatia
Abstract
By ethical examination of “self-care” and “care for the other” the author deals with the issue of woman’s status, her importance and her ethical contribution to society. In the first part, starting from the ancient imperative of “self-care”, we talk about the historical subordination of woman and the position of woman in society, which clearly shows how the ancient imperative of “self-care” was valid to the extent that men allowed them, since in a patriarchal society created by men all social power was in their hands. It is only with the emergence of feminism and the emancipation of women in society, which is discussed in the second part of the paper, that woman gets her own space to be able to “care for herself”. In this context, only then the ancient imperative of “self-care” proves to be an ethical imperative for everyone, man and woman alike, that is, woman becomes an equal partner to man, which belongs to her in the dignity of a human person - to be a human being.
The third part of the paper discusses the ethical imperative related to women and their rights, as well as their diversity in relation to men. This difference is also evident in the ethical field, so one of the basic questions is what kind of ethics women represent and whether there are differences between the ethics of men and women. Whether this ethic is linked to feminist ethics or to ethics based on the specifics of being a woman, is the fundamental aim of this paper’s research. In this context, we can say that one of the ethics based on the dignity of being a woman is the “ethics of caring for the other”, which is discussed in the fourth part of the paper. This “ethics of caring for the other” is rather similar to the ethics arising from the “new feminism” of John Paul II, which the author discusses in the fifth part, where he concludes that the task of new feminism would be to create a “two-voiced culture” in which woman and man stand as equal partners in their identity but also in diversity, perceiving each other as a gift and an enrichment.
Keywords
ancient times; “self-care”; woman; man; feminist ethics; ethics of caring for the other; feminism; new feminism
Hrčak ID:
265773
URI
Publication date:
30.11.2021.
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