Paper Title: Reason based Ethics and Care based Ethics : A Reflection in the Light of Immanuel Kant
Author:
Received on 30th July 2025 & Accepted on 22nd, August, 2025.
Abstract:
One of the most controversial issues in the field of morality is - reason more important or emotion, feelings, love, care, etc. are more important than reason? There are various opinions among philosophers in the West regarding this discussion. One of the philosophers who gave priority to reason was the German philosopher, Immanuel Kant. He believed that moral judgment and debate on a subject is possible if and only if the subject is based on the universality and necessity of morality. Otherwise, the dependence on sympathy, emotion, and feelings in the field of morality can weaken all discussions. Because in everyday life, we often see the same person, on the same subject, feeling different emotions or sympathy at different times and in different situations. As a result, it is not possible to follow any universally accepted rules in decision-making procedure. That is why Kant always gave importance to reason in moral ethics than any kind of emotion.
On the other hand, care based ethics as part of feminist philosophy claims that, the universality we find by applying reason to morality is extremely complex in its practical application. While universal rules can be determined with the help of reason, it is not always possible to understand specific situations through reason; in such cases, it is possible to understand them only through compassion and emotion etc. So, in addition to judging by the standards of justice, compassion , emotion, empathy are also necessary in moral judgement.
In this paper, I shall try to show what Kant meant by reason based ethics and what is the main basis of his morality ? On the other hand, I shall try to show what is meant by care based ethics and what is its necessity in today's society ? At the same time, I will discuss to what extent is the dualistic structure that we see in the philosophy of Plato, Descartes and Kant in modern times, will be justified ? I will also try to show that if the moral law is determined by reason, then will emotions, sympathy and feelings have any importance in moral judgment? Or will they not important ? Or will both have importance in the field of moral judgement?
Keywords:Reason based Ethics, Universality, Necessity, Categorical Imperative, Care based Ethics
DOI Link – https://doi.org/10.63431/AIJITR/2.IV.2025.43-50
Review By – Dr. Amrita Dutta and Amit Adhikari