From Care to Virtue

This book presents an account of moral education that explains the type of experiences that are necessary for the development of virtue. The main argument is that our experiences in caring relationships promote the development of certain virtues. The author employs three theses in support of the main argument. First, the ‘motivational thesis’ is that caring, which is central to most special relationships, motivates a desire to benefit others. This motivation is necessary for acquiring and practicing the natural virtues. The second thesis is the 'epistemic thesis' that caring relationships and caring emotions—as a central aspect of caring relationships—facilitate access to morally relevant knowledge. This rich and otherwise hard to obtain information about people’s needs and desires, a better sense of themselves, their needs and capabilities help individuals develop and attain the natural virtues. A third component is the ‘normative thesis’ that the dependency central to all caring relationships grounds our obligations for special others. The constant and repeated attention to these obligations provides the practice necessary to the development of the virtues.