It was hard to watch news of last week’s polar vortex without feeling concerned for those in its path. While my area (slightly north of DC) dipped into the single digits, I was comparatively unaffected in relation to my friends, family, and former colleagues in Wisconsin and Illinois. As the vortex passed, the news showed images of frozen lakes, burst pipes, vehicles unable to start, and other notable events to indicate how radical this weather was.
It was uplifting to see people pulling together in many of the worst affected areas. Public buses were mobilized to provide warm places for the homeless to sleep. Governments provided advice for how to stay safe. Police and firefighters rallied to help those in distress. Many in the public got involved in similar acts of care. While we shouldn’t overlook the fact that multiple people still died, that communities came together to help those in need gives me hope that when worse effects of global warming come, our first response will be caring rather than self-centered. To explore more about the relation between care and ethics, check out the following articles:
- Yusef Waghid and Paul Smeyers, “Reconsidering Ubuntu: On the educational potential of a particular ethic of care,” Educational Philosophy & Theory, September 2012.
- Monique Wonderly, “On being attached,” Philosophical Studies, January 2016.
- Ann Pang‐White, “Daoist CI 慈, Feminist Ethics of Care, and the Dilemma of Nature,” Journal of Chinese Philosophy, September-December 2016.
- Colette Rabin and Grinell Smith, “Teaching care ethics: conceptual understandings and stories for learning,” Journal of Moral Education, June 2013.
- Joseph Walsh, “Caring: A Pluralist Account,” Ratio, April 2018.
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