Ethics of care theory weakness
Emerging as a theory that was to set right the bias of morality theory, which is said to be biased against the female, ethics of care theory has is criticized for being flawed and with various shortcomings. Below are the weaknesses:
Ambiguity: Care ethics fails to give a distinct direction towards ethics; this is because the theory is non-principled and may lead to overstating of the ethics.
Essentialism: care ethics fails to differentiate how people, especially women, are different. For instance, the theory makes motherhood look like something that is inherently romantic and giving a firm base to sexual stereotypes. In the end, this leaves the ethics of care, looking like ethics that only apply to people with specific characteristics.
Parochialism: Care ethics is faulted for having a more favoritism approach to care. Critiques of this view see the theory to favor immediate family members and distant the others. For instance, elite caregivers may withdraw from attending to issues that affect people at the international level. This is because the theory gives priority to those within proximity.
Flawed empirically: Critiques criticize the ethics of care theory for having overly generalized opinions from a few samples. For example, the theory is accused of getting just a few samples concerning a given view like abortion from only a few women while leaving the opinion of the majority of women who would see abortion as morally wrong.
Slaves morality: Critiques of the theory argue that care ethics does not explain who provides care to whom and that such may lead to unjust relationships. In the end, the voice of care may not be authentic. For example, care in itself is a form of labor to the master, which leads to self-sacrifice by the caregiver.
Indistinct theory: Theorists argue that the ethics of care is already addressed in other theories whiles others argue the possibility of care ethics being just one of the virtues that exist hence not distinct as a theory. For instance, the caregiving concept of justice highlighted in the theory is already addressed by morality theory.