Abstract

This dissertation is a study of the possibilities for broadening our understanding of moral life through an analysis of the ways in which the labor necessary to create moral communities and relationships is accomplished. In particular, it analyzes the ways in which this socially valuable labor is divided along gender lines in such a way as to reinforce the subordination of women in contemporary society and narrowly circumscribe our understanding of gender so as to reinforce social divisions along lines of race, class and sexuality. Given this critique, it presents a constructive alternative by developing a responsible feminist ethic. By focusing on the multiple levels of relationships which are the context for moral labor, this ethic provides a new way of articulating and enacting a moral life which subverts narrowly circumscribed gender roles