The disenchantment of care ethics. A critical cartography

As commemorated on our website, care-ethicist Frans Vosman passed away on June 10th, 2020. He leaves us his intellectual heritage. Here we highlight an article featuring in a recently published book, as part of the peer-reviewed Series Ethics of Care.

The book in case is tome 8 of this series, Ethics of Care: the State of the Art. In his contribution to the book Vosman presents a “critical carthography” (using an expression of Rosi Braidotti) of care ethics. One might say, his intention was to take stock of what the different voice of care ethics has brought us. Thus performing “critical cartography” as he called this undertaking.

Frans Vosman addresses in his contribution a pivotal question concerning the ethics of care, whether as a critical theory it will be able to stand the test of time. He devotes the first part of his article to the substantive features of care ethics; its base and critical insights. He then gives the disciplinary outlines; what kind of approach is the ethics of care. In the final part, titled “Uneasy conversations”, he illustrates by way of examples, the way in which a further development of the ethics of care will be halted by an aporia and a void. He concludes with a roadmap for a self-critical ethics of care. Along this path the ethics of care may get away from the aporia and void and be developed further.

Then, what does it mean, to connect the outcome of Vosman’s critical cartography to the term “disenchantment”? For an answer to that question we advise you to read the article. For those who would like to read it in the shape of a book, or who have become curious as to the entire publication: the book may be ordered directly from Peeters Publishers or through Amazon.

(Introduction by Brecht Molenaar)

Read the article here

About the author: Frans Vosman

Frans Vosman

Prof. dr. Frans Vosman studied moral theology and philosophy at Nijmegen University and did a doctorate on economical ethics in Paris and Rome. Professor Louis Vereecke was his promotor. He was engaged in medical ethics before he took interest in the ethics of care, at Tilburg University, where he was professor ethics of care. He held a chair ethics of care at the University of Humanistics, Utrecht. He was interested in combining conceptual and empirical ethics and in the fundamental political character of the ethics of care. Together with colleagues he did research in a general hospital about patients perspectives and research with regard to people with an intellectual disability. He focused on the ethics of care as a form of fundamental political ethics, He considered the connections with other forms of political ethics, with epistemology and political forms of phenomenology to be quintessential. Frans Vosman died in June, 2020

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