What roles do the body and the imagination play in care? What is the relationship between care ethics and political activism? And how might a commitment to care be personally and socially transformative?

These are some of the questions we explore in this episode with Maurice Hamington, one of the world's leading authorities on care ethics and care theory. Maurice is Professor of Philosophy, and Affiliate Faculty in Women, Gender, and Sexuality Studies, at Portland State University in Oregon in the United States. He is the author or editor of 16 books, including the ground-breaking Embodied Care: Jane Addams, Maurice Merleau-Ponty and Feminist Care Ethics (2004), Care Ethics and Political Theory, co-edited with Daniel Engster (2015), and Care Ethics and Poetry, co-written with Ce Rosenow (2019). Maurice’s most recent book, Revolutionary Care: Commitment and Ethos, was published in March 2024.

We cover the following topics in this episode:

Maurice's journey to care ethics (02:45)

Maurice's encounter with feminism (06:07)

Care, embodiment and the philosophy of Maurice Merleau-Ponty (08:25)

Care as 'habit' and the development of caring masculinities (11:30)

Jane Addams and social habits of care (18:18)

Care, imagination and poetry (23:13)

Care ethics and politics (29:12)

Care ethics and religion (32:52)

'Revolutionary Care' (37:29)

The transformative potential of care (44:35)

Non-western traditions and practices of care (49:43)

Creating a caring economy (52:53)

Care, animals and posthumanism (56:38)

The 'care movement' and progressive politics (59:35)

Maurice's current work and forthcoming publications (01:04:18)

Links to a selection of Maurice's publications

Revealing Male Bodies

Embodied Care: Jane Addams, Maurice Merleau-Ponty and Feminist Care Ethics

Care Ethics and Political Theory

Care Ethics and Poetry

Care Ethics, Religion, and Spiritual Traditions

Revolutionary Care: Commitment and Ethos

Some of the writers and thinkers mentioned in this episode

Carol Gilligan

Nell Noddings

bell hooks

Nancy Tuana

Mark Johnson

Maurice Merleau-Ponty

Jane Addams

Joan Tronto

Seisuke Hayakawa

Michael Slote

Michel Foucault

Daniel Engster

Steven Steyl

For a transcript of this episode, follow this link to the Careful Thinking Substack.