Carol Gilligan
Originator of the ethics of care.
via Wikipedia: Carol Gilligan · see source
Carol Gilligan, born on November 28, 1936, is an American philosopher and psychologist recognized for her contributions to feminist theory, ethical community, and ethical relationships. She holds a professorship in Humanities and Applied Psychology at New York University and served as a visiting professor at the University of Cambridge’s Centre for Gender Studies and Jesus College until 2009. Gilligan is credited with founding the ethics of care.
Raised in a Jewish family in New York City as the only child of a lawyer father and a nursery school teacher mother, she attended the public Hunter Model School and the progressive Walden School on Manhattan’s Upper West Side, and studied piano. She earned a B.A. summa cum laude in English literature from Swarthmore College, a master’s in clinical psychology from Radcliffe College, and a Ph.D. in social psychology from Harvard University, with a dissertation titled “Responses to Temptation: An Analysis of Motives.” After becoming disillusioned with academia, she left to pursue modern dance.
Her teaching career began as a lecturer at the University of Chicago from 1965 to 1966, where she taught Introduction to Modern Social Science while her husband was a medical intern. She then lectured at Harvard University in 1967 on General Education, became an assistant professor at the Harvard Graduate School of Education in 1971, and received tenure as a full professor there in 1988. She taught at the University of Cambridge from 1992 to 1994 as the Pitt Professor of American History and Institutions and a visiting professorial fellow in Social and Political Sciences. In 1997, she held the Patricia Albjerg Graham Chair in Gender Studies at Harvard, and from 1998 to 2001, she was a Visiting Meyer Professor and later visiting professor at New York University School of Law. In 1991, she co-founded the all-female theater group Company of Women with Kristin Linklater, who served as voice instructor. Around that time, she attended a Shakespeare & Company workshop on acting, and her theater work and understanding of “voice” led Tina Packer to ask her to draft a script for *The Scarlet Letter*. In early fall 2002, Gilligan released a theater adaptation of Nathaniel Hawthorne’s novel, co-written with her son Jonathan Gilligan. The play opened on September 14, 2002, at Shakespeare & Company in Lenox, Massachusetts, using the story to explore how patriarchy enforces strict gender roles and prevents genuine pleasure in relationships. She suggested that Hawthorne showed that overthrowing kings does not resolve the tension between puritanical society and love and passion, and that her adaptation presents Pearl’s world, where women are not burdened by an “A” on their breasts. She left Harvard in 2002 to join New York University as a full professor in the School of Education and the School of Law, and was a visiting professor at the University of Cambridge’s Centre for Gender Studies from 2003 to 2009. She studied women’s psychology and girls’ development, co-authoring and editing texts with her students, and contributed the piece “Sisterhood Is Pleasurable: A Quiet Revolution in Psychology” to the 2003 anthology *Sisterhood Is Forever*, edited by Robin Morgan. Her first novel, *Kyra*, was published in 2008. In 2015, she taught a semester at New York University in Abu Dhabi.
Gilligan is known for her work with Lawrence Kohlberg on his stages of moral development and for criticizing his approach. As his research assistant, she argued that his stages were male-oriented and could not be generalized to females. She proposed her own theory of female moral development based on two moral voices: a masculine voice, which is logical and individualistic, emphasizing rights and justice, and a feminine voice, which focuses on interpersonal relationships and care for others. She contended that Kohlberg’s stages emphasized the masculine voice, making it difficult to accurately assess women’s moral development. Gilligan argued that androgyny—integrating both voices—is the best way to realize human potential. Her stages of female moral development have been applied in business settings to explain how men and women handle ethical issues differently. She followed Kohlberg’s framework of preconventional, conventional, and postconventional morality, but adapted it to account for women’s focus on how decisions affect others.
- born
- November 28, 1936
- field
- Philosophy, Psychology
- nationality
- American
- known_for
- Ethics of care, criticism of Lawrence Kohlberg's stages of moral development, bo
Verified Timeline
Lore & Background
Carol Gilligan was raised in a Jewish family in New York City, the only child of a lawyer, William Friedman, and a nursery school teacher, Mabel Caminez. She attended the public Hunter Model School and the Walden School, a progressive private school on Manhattan's Upper West Side, and played piano. Gilligan received her B.A. summa cum laude in English literature from Swarthmore College, a master's degree in clinical psychology from Radcliffe College, and a Ph.D. in social psychology from Harvard University, where she wrote her doctoral dissertation "Responses to Temptation: An Analysis of Motives." Disillusioned by academia, Gilligan left to pursue a career in modern dance. She began her teaching career as a lecturer at the University of Chicago from 1965 to 1966, teaching the Introduction to Modern Social Science. She then became a lecturer at Harvard University in 1967, lecturing on General Education. After becoming an assistant professor in the Harvard Graduate School of Education in 1971, she received tenure there in 1988 as a full professor. Gilligan taught for two years at the University of Cambridge (from 1992 to 1994) as the Pitt Professor of American History and Institutions and as a visiting professorial fellow in the Social and Political Sciences. In 1997, she became Patricia Albjerg Graham Chair in Gender Studies at Harvard. From 1998 until 2001, she was a Visiting Meyer Professor and later visiting professor at New York University School of Law. Gilligan and Kristin Linklater co-founded an all-female theater group called the Company of Women in 1991. Around this time, Gilligan attended a Shakespeare & Company workshop on acting. Her theater work led Tina Packer to ask Gilligan to draft a script for The Scarlet Letter. In early fall of 2002, Gilligan released a theater adaptation of The Scarlet Letter, originally written by Nathaniel Hawthorne, with her son Jonathan Gilligan. The play first opened on September 14, 2002, at Shakespeare & Company in Lenox, Massachusetts. Gilligan eventually left Harvard in 2002 to join New York University as a full professor with the School of Education and the School of Law. She was also a visiting professor at the University of Cambridge in the Centre for Gender Studies from 2003 until 2009. Gilligan is known for her work with Lawrence Kohlberg on his stages of moral development as well as her criticism of his approach. As his research assistant, Gilligan argued that Kohlberg's stages were male-oriented, which limited their ability to be generalized to females. She proposed her theory of stages of female moral development based on her idea of moral voices: the masculine voice is "logical and individualistic," emphasizing justice and rights, while the feminine voice places more emphasis on protecting interpersonal relationships and taking care of other people. Her book In a Different Voice (1982) criticized Kohlberg's stages and became a landmark work.
Reader's Guide
Carol Gilligan's significance lies in her foundational role in developing the ethics of care, a framework that challenged the male-centric assumptions in moral psychology. By critiquing Lawrence Kohlberg's stages of moral development as biased toward a masculine voice emphasizing justice and individual rights, she introduced a feminine voice centered on interpersonal relationships and care. Her work highlighted that women's moral reasoning was not deficient but different, leading to a more inclusive understanding of ethical development. Gilligan's stages—pre-conventional, conventional, and post-conventional morality—emphasize a progression from self-interest to self-sacrifice to a balanced care for self and others. In 1996, Time magazine listed her among America's 25 most influential people. Her ideas have influenced feminist theory, psychology, and ethics. Her legacy continues through her teaching at New York University and her contributions to understanding gender and morality.
Did You Know?
- Gilligan's doctoral dissertation at Harvard was titled 'Responses to Temptation: An Analysis of Motives.'
- She co-founded an all-female theater group called the Company of Women in 1991 with Kristin Linklater.
- Her theater adaptation of Nathaniel Hawthorne's 'The Scarlet Letter' opened on September 14, 2002, at Shakespeare & Company in Lenox, Massachusetts.
- In 1996, Time magazine listed her among America's 25 most influential people.
- Gilligan taught for a semester at New York University in Abu Dhabi in 2015.
Frequently Asked Questions
Who is Carol Gilligan?
She is an American philosopher and psychologist born in 1936 who has dedicated her career to exploring how ethical reasoning operates within relationships and communities. She holds a professorship in Humanities and Applied Psychology at New York University.
What is Carol Gilligan's most significant contribution to psychology?
She is widely credited with founding the ethics of care framework, which places relational responsibility and empathy at the center of moral reasoning. This approach offered a major alternative to the justice-oriented models that dominated the field at the time.
What book made Carol Gilligan famous?
Her 1982 work *In a Different Voice* is her most celebrated publication, in which she argued that women frequently express moral reasoning through a relational, care-oriented lens rather than the rule-based framework emphasized by earlier researchers.
How did Carol Gilligan critique Lawrence Kohlberg's theory?
She contended that Kohlberg's stages of moral development undervalued a way of thinking rooted in interpersonal relationships and responsibility toward others. In her view, dismissing this perspective as a lower developmental stage reflected a gendered blind spot in the research.
Where has Carol Gilligan held academic positions?
She is a professor at New York University and previously served as a visiting professor at the Centre for Gender Studies and Jesus College at the University of Cambridge until 2009.
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