A Basic Study On Carol Gilligan’s Gender Ethics

Moral education is an important content of ideological and political education,and also an important aspect of socialist spiritual construction in the new era.It is the focus of the whole society to improve the effectiveness of moral education and play its role in social governance.Based on the research of Gender Ethics of Harvard University Professor Gilligan,who has won the equivalent of "Nobel" prize in education,this paper discusses the moral education in Colleges and universities in China from the perspective of gender differences,which has certain practical significance for improving the effectiveness of moral education,meeting the people’s pursuit of a better life,and promoting the progress of social civilization in China.This paper mainly uses three research methods: text interpretation method,interdisciplinary research method and comparative research method.Starting from defining the concept of gender difference ethics,this paper analyzes the historical background and theoretical origin of Gilligan’s gender ethics thought: The deep development of the second feminist movement in the United States,the long-term aphasia of women’s ethical discourse power and the moral dilemma call for new ethical appeal jointly gave birth to Gilligan’s gender ethics thought.The theory of gender difference of psychoanalysis school,moral cognition school and American feminist scholars is the theoretical foundation of Gilligan’s gender ethics.This paper sorts out four dimensions of Gilligan’s gender ethics: two self-concepts,two ethical thinking modes,two ethical value orientations and two moral development modes.Namely,men tend to know themselves in the distance,while women tend to grasp themselves in the connection;Male ethical thinking mainly reflects the characteristics of rational thinking and individual thinking,while female ethical thinking mainly reflects the characteristics of situation thinking and relationship thinking.Men tend to make the ethical value orientation of justice,women tend to make the ethical value orientation of care;The moral development path of the male follows the mainstream description of the stages of moral development,while the moral development path of the female is embodied in the stages of self-preservation,self-sacrifice of goodness and non-violence.On this basis,in an objective attitude of seeking truth from facts,this article makes an objective evaluation of Gilligan’s gender ethics.On the one hand,it points out the theoretical contribution of Gilligan’s gender ethics thinking: it has created a gender perspective of moral judgment,corrects the marginalization tendency of care ethics,and makes up for some irreconcilable inherent defects of justice ethics.On the other hand,it also pointed out the questioning of this theory: whether morality can be gendered,whether gender differences are universal,and whether recognition of differences is beneficial to women.On the basis of objective evaluation and analysis,this article explores the enlightenment of Gilligan’s gender ethics in the Chinese context for moral education in Chinese universities,and proposes three suggestions for improvement:endowing moral education with gender consciousness,reducing the self-identification in the view of male and female ethics,and Constructing Gender Harmony in moral education.