Elizabeth Porter - Feminist Perspectives on Ethics

FEMINIST PERSPECTIVES SERIES

Series Editors:

Professor Pamela Abbott, University of Teesside

Professor Claire Wallace, Researcher at the Institute for Advanced Studies, Austria and Professor at the University of Derby

Forthcoming Titles:

Barbara Brook

Chris Corrin

Maryanne Dever and Denise Cuthbert

Barbara Fawcett

Margaret Gibbon

Laura Goldsack and Jill Radford

Beate Littig and Barbara Hegenbart

First published 1999 by Pearson Education Limited

Published 2014 by Routledge

2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX 14 4RN

711 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10017, USA

Copyright 1999, Taylor & Francis.

The right of Elisabeth Porter to be identified as author of this Work has been asserted by her in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers.

Notices

Knowledge and best practice in this field are constantly changing. As new research and experience broaden our understanding, changes in research methods, professional practices, or medical treatment may become necessary.

Practitioners and researchers must always rely on their own experience and knowledge in evaluating and using any information, methods, compounds, or experiments described herein. In using such information or methods they should be mindful of their own safety and the safety of others, including parties for whom they have a professional responsibility.

To the fullest extent of the law, neither the Publisher nor the authors, contributors, or editors, assume any liability for any injury and/or damage to persons or property as a matter of products liability, negligence or otherwise, or from any use or operation of any methods, products, instructions, or ideas contained in the material herein.

ISBN 13: 978-0-582-35635-1 (pbk)

British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data

A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Porter, Elisabeth J.

Feminist perspectives on ethics / Elisabeth Porter.

p. cm. (Feminist perspectives series)

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN 0-582-35635-0 (pbk.)

1. Feminist ethics. I. Title. II. Series.

BJ1395.P67 1999

Typeset by 35 in 10/12pt New Baskerville

The aim of the Feminist Perspectives series is to provide a concise introduction to different topics from a feminist perspective. The topics were chosen as being of interest for students on a range of different degree courses and in a range of different disciplines. They reflect the current interest in feminist issues and in womens studies in a wide range of fields. The series aims to provide a guide through the burgeoning and sometimes rather arcane literatures which have grown around various feminist topics. The texts are written by experienced teachers and academics providing lively and interesting accounts of topics of current interest. They include examples and case studies or statistical information where relevant in order to make the material more accessible and stimulating. The texts contain chapter outlines and summaries for convenient, quick access. There are also suggestions for further reading.

In addressing the issue of ethics, Elisabeth Porter goes to the heart of some of the most heated debates in contemporary Western civilization. Issues such as abortion, reproductive technology, pornography, love and friendship are ones which have generated reams of prose. However, by looking at these issues from a distinctively womens point of view we can come to new understandings of these topics. Elisabeth Porter argues against the idea of any single moral system, but for an understanding of plurality and diversity. Nevertheless, she discusses particular principles such as justice, care, equality and rights which guide moral behaviour but upon which a feminist perspective throws a better light. In the first chapter, the author sets out this argument by counterposing the more male-stream view of ethics, based upon universal, rational moral principles, with a woman-centred one which brings in the idea of nurturance, caring and relationships with others. She looks at the way in which this can pose a variety of moral dilemmas for women which a masculinist perspective would ignore. Elisabeth Porter then explores these issues by looking at intimate relationships love, friendship, passion and parenting. She then goes on to consider professional ethics in the public sphere, in particular those concerned with caring professions, but emphasizing the role of women as moral agents and the ways in which they can be empowered. In Chapter 4 she looks at how these issues resurface in public political life, focusing on how needs are translated into social and political rights and the role of women within this. In the last three chapters, Elisabeth Porter takes the examples of sexual politics (including lesbianism, heterosexuality, prostitution and pornography), abortion and reproductive rights to illustrate the complexities and ramifications of ethical issues. Thus, the book argues for a view of ethics which recognizes its social embeddedness.

I am extremely appreciative to Norman, Shantala, Simon and Luke Porter for providing me with a loving, nurturant context in which to write. They have all taught me much about ethics, life and love. My sociology colleagues at the University of Ulster who kindly agreed to my semester teaching break. I am very grateful to my friend Fran Porter for her thorough proof-reading and offering of useful suggestions to make the text read more clearly. Special thanks also to my son Luke who made a helpful contribution in typing the index, and my daughter Shantala for typing corrections in haste and with great humour. This book is dedicated to the young women of her generation.

Life is complex. We make difficult choices in our personal, social and political lives. Sometimes it is hard to know how to make good or right choices that satisfy ourselves and minimize hurt to others. Welcome to the world of ethics where we grapple with perplexing moral decisions. Ethics is the practical study of moral choices. It examines the situations, rationales and justifications in which choices are good or bad, right or wrong, decent or indecent, worthy or unworthy, desirable or undesirable, moral or immoral. Ethics explores the principles we draw on to deliberate on options; why some options seem right and others do not; the actual choice made; consequences; and personal accountability.