Vulnerability ─ New Essays in Ethics and Feminist Philosophy

The aim of this volume is to open up reflection on the nature of vulnerability, the responsibilities owed to the vulnerable, who bears these responsibilities, and how they are best fulfilled. In canvassing responses to these questions, the contributors engage with a range of ethical traditions and with issues in contemporary political philosophy and bioethics. Some essays in the volume explore the connections between vulnerability, autonomy, dignity, and justice. Other essays engage with a feminist ethics of care to articulate the relationship between vulnerability, dependence, and care. These theoretical approaches are complemented by detailed examination of vulnerability in specific contexts, including disability; responsibilities to children; intergenerational justice; and care of the elderly. The essays thus address fundamental questions concerning our moral duties to each other as individuals and as citizens. Contributing significantly to the development of an ethics of vulnerability, this volume opens up promising avenues for future research in feminist philosophy, moral and political philosophy, and bioethics.

Catriona Mackenzie is Professor of Philosophy and Associate Dean in the Faculty of Arts at Macquarie University, Sydney. She has published extensively in moral psychology, feminist philosophy and applied ethics. Within these areas she is known especially for her work on relational autonomy and practical identity.

Wendy Rogers is Professor of Clinical Ethics at Macquarie University, Sydney. She has published widely in clinical and public health ethics and in feminist bioethics. Her work focuses on the intersection between ethical theory and practical problems in health care ethics.

Susan Dodds is Dean of the Faculty of Arts and Professor of Philosophy at the University of Tasmania. She has published widely in political philosophy, moral philosophy and applied ethics (especially feminist bioethics). Her work focuses on the intersection of political philosophy, feminist theory and and applied ethics.