Search
Carol Gilligan
2025 Kyoto Prize Laureates
Thought and Ethics
/ Psychologist
1936-
University Professor, New York University
Carol Gilligan has critiqued conventional psychological theories for narrowing the model of personality development and relegating the “care” perspective—which emphasizes human relationships—to a subordinate, gendered status as a feminine moral perspective. By envisioning an enmeshment of the “ethic of justice” and “ethic of care,” Gilligan has established a new academic foundation to address global issues related to care.
Carol Gilligan has challenged the conventional developmental theories represented by Erikson and Kohlberg, which idealized male paths to moral maturity. In her seminal work In a Different Voice (first published in 1982), based mainly on interviews with adolescent boys and girls, she noted that women’s ways of thinking include “a different voice” that offers rich insights into moral reasoning, especially in contrast to men’s ways of thinking.
According to Gilligan, women tend to listen more attentively to others and respond more concretely to others’ needs. When faced with moral dilemmas, they are more likely than men to prioritize human connections and seek solutions that preserve relationships. She called this relationship-oriented reasoning the “ethic of care” and contrasted it with the “ethic of justice,” which often entails imposing universal principles or rights, even forcefully, to resolve conflict. The “ethic of justice” perspective emphasizes universal human rights and fairness grounded in “principles.” By contrast, the “ethic of care” seeks the most desirable solution for each individual while considering each individual involved from the viewpoint of “relationships” between interdependent individuals..
Gilligan did not merely contrast the “ethic of care” to the “ethic of justice.” Rather, she has been deeply concerned with an enmeshment of these two differently positioned ethical frameworks for a more fully realized human maturity..
What Gilligan particularly emphasized was how this “different voice” has been suppressed in male-dominated societies, especially under patriarchy. While male development was aimed at the “autonomy” of the subject as an individual, female development has conventionally been shaped around roles as “good women,” responding to the needs of others in private spheres like family and friendship. Women were seen as selfish when they asserted their rights, while selflessness was idealized. This suppression, when internalized, caused women to lose their “voice.” Gilligan argued that the “ethic of care,” which aims to respond fairly not only to others’ needs but also to their own needs, is the key to liberating both women and men from modern patriarchy; this divides human qualities into masculine and feminine and subordinates “the different voice” by associating it solely with feminine ways of thinking..
Gilligan’s concept of the “ethic of care” has not only challenged modern Western ethics, which revolves around concepts like the “autonomy of the subject” and “universality of principles,” but has also brought a new perspective into fields such as education, sociology, nursing, and social policy. It has become a new academic foundation for addressing global societal challenges like women’s empowerment and the welfare of the elderly and disabled. As such, Gilligan pioneered the intellectual horizon for the now widely discussed “ethic of care,” and her works have been translated into numerous languages.
Profile is at the time of the award.