The bonds that bind
The bond itself is a reason: I owe my own what I owe to no one else.
Supports
- Moral life is not born in the abstract, but in concrete relationships: a mother's care, a friend's loyalty, the debt to those who raised us.
- These bonds are not arbitrary preferences; they constitute that no impartial calculation created and none can erase.
- A "morality" that treated my child like any child would have lost touch with moral life as it is lived: the that placed at the heart of virtue, or the ethics of care, attentive first to those who depend on us.
Therefore Favoring one's own is therefore not a flaw in morality: it is an essential part of it, where it takes flesh.
How far does this reasoning convince you?
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Entirely
Deepenings
Graded love against equal love
- In ancient China, Mozi preached an equal love for all, with no distinction of closeness.
- Mencius replies that a love without degrees would amount to "disowning one's father", and that virtue begins by honoring one's own before extending, step by step, to the rest of humankind.
How far does this reasoning convince you?
Not at all
Entirely
Put to the test
Objection