Taking care of one's own: Justice and family caregiving
Theoretical Medicine and Bioethics 23 (2) (2002)
| Abstract | This paper asks whether adult children have aduty of justice to act as caregivers for theirfrail, elderly parents. I begin (Sections I.and II.) by locating the historical reasons whyrelationships within families were not thoughtto raise issues of justice. I argue that thesereasons are misguided. The paper next presentsspecific examples showing the relevance ofjustice to family relationships. I point outthat in the United States today, the burden ofcaregiving for dependent parents fallsdisproportionately on women (Sections III. andIV.). The paper goes on to use Rawls''theoretical tool of the veil of ignorance toargue that caring for parents should not belinked to a person''s sex and more generally,that there is no duty of justice to assume therole of caregiver for dependent parents(Sections V.). Although justice does notprovide the moral foundations for parent care,I show that it nonetheless places importantlimits on the instinct to care. I concludethat the voice of justice should be audible,and is intrinsically present, withinfamilies. | |||||||||
| Keywords | No keywords specified (fix it) | |||||||||
| Categories | ||||||||||
| Options |
|
|||||||||
Download options| PhilPapers Archive |
Upload a copy of this paper Check publisher's policy on self-archival Papers currently archived: 5,672 |
| External links |
 |
| Through your library | Configure |
Similar books and articlesSusan Lollis, Geraldine van Engen, Louise Burns, Katherine Nowack & Hildy Ross (1999). Sibling Socialisation of Moral Orientation: 'Share with Me!' 'No, It's Mine!'. Journal of Moral Education 28 (3):339-357.
Carol Levine (2005). Acceptance, Avoidance, and Ambiguity: Conflicting Social Values About Childhood Disability. Kennedy Institute of Ethics Journal 15 (4):371-383.
Veronique Munoz-Darde (1999). Is the Family to Be Abolished Then? Proceedings of the Aristotelian Society 99 (1):37-56.
Nancy S. Jecker & Eric M. Meslin (1994). United States and Canadian Approaches to Justice in Health Care: A Comparative Analysis of Health Care Systems and Values. Theoretical Medicine and Bioethics 15 (2).
Lynda Lange (2009). Globalization and the Conceptual Effects of Boundaries Between Western Political Philosophy and Economic Theory. Social Philosophy Today 25:31-45.
Brian Penrose (2000). Must the Family Be Just? Philosophical Papers 29 (3):189-221.
Dan W. Brock (2001). Children's Rights to Health Care. Journal of Medicine and Philosophy 26 (2):163 – 177.
Maurice Hamington (2009). Liberté, Égalité, Sororité. Social Philosophy Today 25:123-135.
Anca Gheaus (2013). Care Drain: Who Should Provide for the Children Left Behind? Critical Review of International Social and Political Philosophy 16 (1):1-23.
Analytics
Monthly downloads |
Added to index2009-01-28Total downloads5 ( #160,283 of 549,070 )Recent downloads (6 months)1 ( #63,185 of 549,070 )How can I increase my downloads? |
My notes
Discussion
