Emotions, care and particularity

The main intention of this article is to illuminate the normative foundation of caring in nursing. I will focus on the debate between an ethics of care and an ethics of universal principles which has evolved both in nursing ethics and moral philosophy during the last decade. In spite of what a number of people have claimed, I shall argue that a care-based ethics is compatible with judgment based on universal, impartial principles. However, an ethics of care articulates other important aspects of morality and moral behavior than the justificational ones that are central to prevailing impartialist ethics. The paper explains why and how moral perception, sensitivity and emotional capacities are important for a modern professional nursing ethics. It focuses on capacities and preconditions for principle-based reflection and action by arguing that moral perception and certain emotional qualities are prerequisites for moral judgment and action. Achieving perceptual awareness and emotional sensitivity in understanding the situation and its particulars are genuine moral tasks in nursing. These qualities are essential in discovering the morally salient features of the situation. This perspective on an ethics of care also recognizes an important place to central positions in traditional nursing ethics, where developing personal qualities and altruistic capabilities have always been a fundamental normative claim.