Is caring responsibility only a choice we take?
Care ethics treats responsibility as something taken or refused; a radical phenomenology adds a passive, invisible call that comes from outside the subject.
Source
Me? The invisible call of responsibility and its promise for care ethics: a phenomenological view
Study at a glance
- Design
- Other — Phenomenological extension of care ethics via Marion/Levinas on a passive call of responsibility
- N
- Philosophical ethics; not an empirical sample
- Population
- Care-ethics accounts of responsibility (Gilligan, Noddings, Tronto, Walker) and caregiving burdens
- Outcome
- Passive, invisible call of responsibility beyond taken/refused voluntary responsibility
Structured fields used in claim comparison tables when every cited study has a complete layer.
What they did
Starting from Gilligan, Noddings, Tronto and Walker, the authors note that if responsibility is not taken, care does not occur, yet certain groups still carry it. They turn to Marion (drawing on Levinas) for a silent, invisible call, aiming to ease pressure on individual caregivers by exposing the passive aspect care ethics already has but underplays.
What they found
Responsibility has a passive side: a call in silence, invisible, from outside the subject. Making that explicit is a promise for care ethics, not a replacement of Tronto/Walker’s social analysis.
The limits
What it doesn't show
This is phenomenological theory, not a new ethnography of carers. It does not measure caregiver burden.
Key terms
- Taken responsibility
- Care-ethics picture: if no one accepts responsibility, caring does not occur.
- Invisible call
- Marion/Levinas: a silent summons from outside the subject, not first an inner decision.
- Passive aspect
- Being claimed by the call before (or beneath) active taking of responsibility.
- Care ethics
- Gilligan–Noddings–Tronto–Walker line that makes responsibility central to caring practices.
Flashcards
Research intelligence for this paper
See its role on concept claims, tensions it is part of, placement history, and related discoveries.
Quiz yourself
If no one takes responsibility?
Common questions
What happens if no one takes responsibility?
Caring does not occur — yet some groups still end up taking it.
What does phenomenology add?
A passive, invisible call from outside the subject.
Why bother?
To decrease pressure on individual caregivers by exposing what care ethics underplays.
More on Phenomenology