Beyond Egoism and Altruism: Cicely Saunders’ Ethical Proposal

Abstract

This paper aims to propose a reflection on the link between care and life that animates Saunders’ philosophy of total care in order to highlight its revolutionary ethical scope. Proclaiming care as an ethical act proper “of” and “to” life, Saunders postulates a sort of primordial solidarity that challenges and surpasses every egoistic or individualistic paradigm. The attitude of care is not only expressed in terms of its purpose, such as helping those in need but also reflects the existential need of the agent to play a responsible role in the world. This vision is fascinating because it first problematizes the concept of individual autonomy and then opens up to a reevaluation of the foundations of ethics or at the very least to a reformulation of the categories through which we perceive the moral agent and structure our understanding of morality.