Stein's ethic of care : an alternative perspective to reflections on women lawyering

Numerous studies have been undertaken in various jurisdictions around the world on the effect that the increase in the number of women in the legal profession has had on the profession. Despite the current intellectual trend among feminist scholars to use theoretical frameworks with caution, most of these studies are conceptualized within the framework of Gilligan's notion of the 'different voice'. Gilligan identifies the 'ethic of care' as one of the main contributions to this 'different voice'. This chapter attempts to dialogue with the current literature on the subject using a novel conceptual framework, an ethic of care founded on the philosophy of Edith Stein. Stein did not explicitly develop an ethic of care, nor did she propose a feminist theory. However, this chapter infers from her philosophy of the human person and her reflections on woman, a foundation for an ethic of care that can serve as the basis for revisiting the discourse on the effect of the increase in the number of women working in the legal profession.