School of Historical and Philosophical Inquiry Philosophy Seminar on The Influence of Money in Commodified Care presented by Stephen Kemp

Event Details

Date:

Friday, 01 May 2015

Time:

3:00 pm - 5:00 pm

Room:

Room E302

UQ Location:

Forgan Smith Building (St Lucia)

Event category(s):

Full Description:: When care becomes commodified it becomes a commodity which may be bought or sold in the marketplace. In this paper, I attempt to describe the influence that money or “commercial considerations” might have on care. In doing so, I show how care can be seen in two different ways: the “activity” of care on the one hand, and “feelings” of care on the other. I further show how “feelings” of care may also be seen from two different perspectives: as purely instinctive caring sentiments which arise spontaneously, or more complex emotions informed by our cognitive processes. These distinctions I argue have a bearing on the influence that money or other incentives may be likely to have on our caring tendencies. I also attempt to show how the presence or absence of money may affect our motivations and how money and other incentives are capable of exerting both positive and negative influences. While I conclude that being motivated to make money from caring is not necessarily inconsistent with the caring ideal, it may be morally questionable when money making becomes a predominant motive.