Care Ethics in Bioethics and Social Policy

Political theorist Joan Tronto's Moral Boundaries: A Political Argument for an Ethic of Care (1993, Routledge), developed together with philosopher Berenice Fisher, analyzed care as a process composed of interlocking phases: "caring about," recognizing that a need exists; "caring for," taking on responsibility for meeting it; "caregiving," the actual hands-on labor of meeting the need; and "care-receiving," the response of the cared-for, which is what actually confirms whether the need was met — a fifth phase, "caring with," describing the collective, trust-based sustaining of caring practices as a social norm, was added in Tronto's later work with Fisher.