Domination and Care in Rousseau'sEmile

Abstract

Domination, understood as the abusive or capricious employment of power over others for the sake of one's own ends, is among the gravest threats to human freedom. Solving the problem of domination is a crucial normative challenge, and this article identifies in the work of Jean-Jacques Rousseau a promising and overlooked avenue for addressing it. I propose an interpretation of Rousseau'sEmilein which preventing domination requires moral education in the practice and value of care. This interpretation gives Rousseau new relevance as a theorist of domination. In connecting non-dominative to educative care, Rousseau's approach has the potential to forge new connections between neo-republican theories of domination and feminist care ethics, even suggesting new routes by which public policy might foster a non-dominative society.

Care or Justice: Care Ethics and the Restricted Reporting Sexual Assault Policy in the US Military

“…We argue that prioritizing care and, if necessary, excluding justice is normatively beneficial in this case. We find evidence for the policy's alignment with care ethics in the policy's values of attentiveness and responsiveness, both of which are vital elements of care (Clement 1996; Engster 2001; Fraistat 2016; Hankivsky 2014; Kittay 2001; Tronto 2005).…”

“…Attentiveness, according to care‐ethics scholars, is being open and receptive to understanding the needs of others (Engster 2001, 577–78; 2020b, 628–30; Fraistat 2016, 893, 895–97; Kittay, Jennings, and Wasunna 2005, 453; Tronto 1989, 176–79; 1996, 146; 1998; 2005, 252–53; 2010, 165). Being attentive requires dialogue and listening.…”

“…Listening and learning are not the same things as creating a responsive policy. Scholars argue that a pivotal element of care ethics is responsiveness (Engster 2020b; Fraistat 2016; Hankivsky 2014; Held 2008; Stensöta 2010; Tronto 2005; 2010). They generally define responsiveness as adjusting policies or behaviors in response to the expressed needs of the vulnerable (Tronto 2005, 255).…”