Abstract
The emphasis on intra-family caregiving that prevailed from ancient until relatively recent times, in both philosophy and practice, was substantially displaced under the influence of the Eighteenth Century Enlightenment by an emphasis on individual independence. The ethics of familial relationships ceased to be at the center of philosophical interest. A consequence was growing inattention to the social conditions and practical arrangements needed to support family efforts to take care of the very young, the very old, the physically or mentally ill or disabled, and others in need of care. The myth of the self-sufficient family must be exploded to permit the development of a public policy that will make such support possible.
Similar content being viewed by others
Reference notes
Hauerwas, Stanley.Truthfulness and Tragedy Notre Dame: University of Notre Dame Press. 1977, p. 172.
From Roger Wertheimer, “Philosophy on Humanity,” as cited by Hauerwas, p. 277.
Alasdair MacIntyre.After Virtue: A Study in Moral Theory. Notre Dame: University of Notre-Dame Press, 1981, p. 31.
Ibid., p. 32.
Ibid., p. 177.
Christina Hoff Sommers, “Filial Morality,”Journal of Philosophy, vol. LXXXIII/8, August, 1986, p. 443.
Ibid., p. 443.
Ibid., p. 445.
Adam Ferguson,Principles of Moral and Political Science, In Louis Schneider, ed.,The Scottish Moralists: On Human Nature and Society Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1967, p. 82.
Ibid., p. 82.
Ibid., p. 85.
Ibid., p. 82.
Cicero,De Officibus, as cited by C.S. Lewis,The Abolition of Man. New York: Macmillan, 1947, p. 102.
Ibid., p. 107.
Thomas Aquinas.The Summa Theologica. Chicago: Encyclopedia Britannica, Inc., 1950, II–II, Q. 32, Art. 9, p. 549.
Augustine.The City of God, trans. Marcus Dods New York: Modern Library, 1950, Bk. XIX, Ch. 14, p. 693.
Butler, Bishop. “Fifteen Sermons.” InThe British Moralists: 1650–1800, ed. D.D. Raphael Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1969, vol. 1, p. 374.
Henry Sidgwick.The Methods of Ethics. Indianapolis: Hackett Publishing, 1981, p. 242.
Ibid., p. 259.
Ibid., pp. 259–260.
English, Jane. “What Do Grown Children Owe Their Parents?” InHaving Children: Philosophical and Legal Reflections on Parenthood, Onora O'Neill and William Ruddick (eds.) New York, Oxford University Press, 1979, p. 351.
Slote, Michael A. “Obedience and Illusions.” InHaving Children: Philosophical and Legal Reflections on Parenthood, p. 319.
Ibid., p. 321.
Lewis, C.S.The Abolition of Man. New York: Macmillan, 1947, p. 41.
Ibid., p. 104.
Sidgwick, op. cit., p. 260.
Nisbet, Robert A.,Community and Power. New York: Oxford University Press, 1962, p. 60.
Skolnick, Jerome H. & Arlene,Family in Transition. Boston: Little, Brown and Co., 1980, p. 51.
Haring, Bernard.The Law of Christ. Trans. E.G. Kaiser Westminster Maryland: The Newman Press, 1966, pp. 3 & 112.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Post, S. An ethical perspective on caregiving in the family. J Med Hum 9, 6–16 (1988). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01115239
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01115239