Care Ethics and the overcoming of Anthropocentrism

Abstract

This article examines the problem of anthropocentrism in traditional ethical theories, and the possibility of advocating for the expansion of the moral community. It addresses the question of how to overcome the framework of the sanctity of human life, which places humans at the center of moral consideration, in light of contemporary approaches. The aim is to demonstrate that a feminist ethics of care, as incorporated by ecofeminist perspectives, provides a promising foundation for expanding the moral community through an interspecies relational turn. The argument is structured in three parts. First, feminist care ethics is characterized as a relational and contextual perspective, centered on relations of dependence and interdependence and on the obligation to respond to concrete and particular care needs. Second, the article analyzes how ecofeminist authors mobilize this approach to critique hierarchical value dualisms linked to systems of domination, which are responsible for the exploitation of human and nonhuman beings, thereby expanding moral consideration beyond humans. Finally, it explores the implications of the interspecies relational turn for animal and environmental ethics, highlighting the need to overcome multiple systems of domination simultaneously. The article concludes that the ethics of care enables a shift from a logic of domination to a logic of care, fostering an understanding of the continuity among forms of life by a relational self, and grounding care practices aimed at preventing suffering and sustaining care networks. Despite the challenges associated with the diversity of contexts and care needs among different living beings and species, the development of relational selves is identified as a central path toward building a society grounded in interspecies care.