Between Care and the Ethics of Utility: Towards a Better Human Social Relationship

Michael Schluter and David Lee among other scholars decry the extent of erosion in genuine personal relationships among human persons in present day societies. The concern it generates is consequent upon the social ills prevalent among humankind ranging from corruption, poverty, unemployment, armed robbery, kidnapping (adult napping), human trafficking, drug trafficking, internet fraud, ritual killings, conflicts, wars and a host of others. The wave of these social vices has been identified as a moral problem, which emanates from failure of the human person to develop a strong moral sense in present-day society with the emergence of democracy and market economy. This is so because if principles of moral actions are socially weak, they are usually unable to ensure a healthy inter-personal relationship as well as a healthy society. Given this backdrop, the paper attempts to interrogate the social import of an ethic of utility and care in order to come to terms with which would foster social relationships in contemporary society for the achievement of human well-being, viable and sustainable development.