This is the second part of a two-part series in which our editor Tessa Roberts-Smorenburg explores the relationship between art and care from a care ethical perspective. Building on the reflections developed in Part I, she examines several presentations from the international forum The Art of Observation: How Art Improves the Skills of Healthcare Personnel in Rome (November 20-21, 2024) and relates them to questions of observation, uncertainty, and power in contemporary oncology care. Continue reading Art in Care: A Care Ethical Perspective (Part II)
On The Art of Disguising Suffering
While graduating as a student in Humanistic Studies and Political Philosophy, Sylwin Cornielje was charmed by the critical studies, that care ethics engaged in. By any means, these studies involve the question of what ‘a good society’ means from a variety of different disciplines and outlooks. As Sylwin Cornielje describes it, care ethics – more specifically the way in which he came to learn of it – at that time practiced political theory, including a small ethical theory. Continue reading On The Art of Disguising Suffering
Remembering Virginia Held (1929–2026)
Care ethicist Joan Tronto shared sad news on the International Care Ethics Forum. One of the eldest and most famous participants, Virginia Held, has passed away at the age of 96 on May 26, 2026. Continue reading Remembering Virginia Held (1929–2026)
Being vulnerable is what we all share
Dutch journalist and writer Stevo Akkerman recently interviewed member of the Ethics of Care webteam and care ethicist Jeannet van de Kamp for the national Dutch newspaper Trouw about her PhD thesis Disguised Suffering.
The caption of the article reads “We have to face the reality that being vulnerable is our common ground.” Akkerman puts the focus in his article on only a small portion of the encompassing dissertation of Van de Kamp, e.g. her description of a contemporary hospital.
As even there human suffering is being disguised in manifold ways, this fact by itself illustrates in her opinion a wider phenomenon in our Western society. Continue reading Being vulnerable is what we all share
Art in Care: A Care Ethical Perspective (Part I)
This is the first part of a two-part series in which editor Tessa Roberts-Smorenburg explores the different connections between art and care from a care-ethical perspective. How they can enhance the ability of observing and perceiving in complex care situations, as found in her own clinical practice concerning oncology treatment in a specialized hospital. Continue reading Art in Care: A Care Ethical Perspective (Part I)
Political polarization in (late) modern times
Troubling polarization and, in the worst case, escalating political and ideological contradictions are of all times, but which dynamics are at stake in the current late modern era with its diversity of manifestations of power? Taking this matter into account, our critical care-ethical perspective on a seemingly polarized world addresses in this context questions concerning the human emotional dimension, (societal) relationships, institutional aspects and implicit as well as explicit power plays. Member of our board of editors, Silke Jacobi wrote the following article about polarization. Continue reading Political polarization in (late) modern times