Carol Gilligan's Basic Definition For Male Morality example essay topic

Carol Gilligan's basic definition for male morality is that we have basic rights, and you must value those rights of others. In her accounts, males believe morality forms restrictions on what to do. To illustrate this point in one instance, she brings to light the "Druggist" experiment, conducted by Kohlberg. This is one in which a scenario is brought forth to an eleven-year- old child named Jake.

This situation is about a loving husband by the name of Heinz married to a sickly woman. The wife is in need of a medicine that only the town color can provide. The price of the drug exceeds the funds of the loving and he attempts to convey the severity of the situation to the doctor. He attempted to get the price of the medicine lowered and was refused.

The question of whether stealing the drug was morally right was asked. Young Jake believed Heinz should in fact steal the medicine because in his eyes "a human life is worth more than money". Furthermore even with the varied theoretical element of love not being present in the relationship, the answer was the same. Under the circumstances, though an unlawful action was taken, it was justified in his eyes. As a male internally the perception is that he is capable of logical decisions. In saying that, he adapts a self-governed mentality in which he believes that as long as the action is taken preserved a basic right, it is justified.

There is a clear difference in his mind between law and what is morally right, the goal to be attained. A point brought forward by young Jake is that the doctor will get money from many other sources and the loss is not a make or break issue. From another male perspective this same belief applies in the works of an author by the name Rod Van Mechelen in a publication entitled "Morality". In this work there are clear declarations of the what attributing factors that are comprised in a male's moral fiber. That is that "The purpose of morality is to provide the framework for optimum survival. What behaviors will optimize human survival?

How can we survive best as human beings? In this respect, morality is not entirely absolute" This implies the very point reiterated by Gilligan throughout the book. When negative circumstance is identified, morality is compromised. Its pursuit quite often steers notice from what Gilligan calls the "consequence of choice". Female morality is defined by Gilligan in so many words as that people have responsibilities towards one another. Kohlberg conducted the same interview on a female by the name of Amy.

Her response was completely different than Jake's response. Amy felt that "there might be other ways besides stealing and "If he stole the drug, he might save his wife, then if he did he might have to go to jail and then his wife might get sicker again... ". Stealing is not regarded as an opinion though a life of a loved one is evolved. The doctor's money was even considered. Furthermore the death within itself wouldn't be the core travesty but it "hurts a lot of people and hurts her".

Dilemmas are solved in her mind through the realm of exchange of opinions. It is assumed that a tie will be made and there would be a mutual understanding. Care is the basis of action for her. Gilligan believes not that her response was not inferior as Kohlberg did when the experiment was executed, she just thinks that other things are being considered by Amy. She sought a solution within the confines of the law.

When an action is taken, there is more regard for consequence and rather than have the situation erupt in a manner that could hurt people, an alternative is presented. As the book nears a concrete divide between male and female morality a parallel is made with Jean Piaget's and Kohlberg.'s ideas of moral development. Kohlberg's adapted a set of stages of moral development based on the theories of Piaget in which the Pre operational, Concrete and Formal stages of cognitive development were created. The underlying belief of Piaget was that when children begin their lives they are very self-centered beings that think very concretely (Piaget, 1965). As logic is formed by age and experience, concerns go beyond internal need and they begin to "de center" themselves. Although concrete thought is still present in children, experience can allow a child to eventually look at things from a theoretical point of view.

Kohlberg's adaptation of his stages of moral development were similar in some ways. Broken into three stages of preconventional, conventional and postconventional (W eitan, 2000) they furthered the beliefs of accumulative layers to establish ethics. The preconventional says that self-centered ness is very abundant is this stage and morals are dealt with in the same way. The conventional states that morals transcend from internally to the ones of their elders. The last stage is postconventional is when ethics are established from the person's values.

Gilligan's take on these was similar in that the skeleton of this was fairly accurate but lacked the knowledge to be a gender universal system. It was reported in both scales (Gilligan and Piaget) the majority of the time that females always scored less. The reason being in her eyes was the measure of moral development was not applicable to the female perspective. As a result a scale was created by Gilligan called the Stages of the ethic of care. This differed from the male theorists was male scales of moral development focused on cognitive ability. a.

Preconventional- survival b. Conventional- liberation in self sacrifice. Self sacrifice is right c. Postconventional- nonviolence. No pain should be inflicted upon others or self The changes in stages in her scale dealt with transitions in the idea of self. To prove her point about her belief in her adapted version of the stages of ethic care, a real issue was brought to forefront and applied to the stages.

A group of pregnant females of varying ages were either thinking about or are allowing for an abortion. 1. Preconventional- Abortion was seen as a way out for themselves. Most didn't look beyond their own motives. An example of a female by the name of Susan's first reaction when notified was that ".