Matthias Hauer

Division of Medical Ethics, Department of Health Services Research, University of Oldenburg

Feelings of guilt towards relatives in need of care because there is too little time to provide it; fear that relatives might fall and nobody would notice – emotions play an important role in caregiving, yet their ethical significance has scarcely been analysed to date. Martha Nussbaum (2001) conceives of emotions as value judgements. Feelings of guilt, for example, may be an expression of the conviction that one has violated moral norms, whilst fears may point to the belief that valued goods are at risk.

This lecture explores the extent to which sociological methods can make such emotions accessible to ethical analysis. In doing so, it argues that the analysis of emotions must take two levels into account in particular: (a) the discursive level and (b) the micro-level of individual interactions. Using the example of live-in care, the ethical relevance of emotions at these levels is demonstrated. If emotions are understood as value judgements, the discursive negotiation of social norms that shape these emotions can be traced, so that the emotions based on them can then be analysed at the micro-level. A moral conflict between individual freedom and family care responsibilities is evident, for example, at the level of discourse through the negotiation of the fears of family carers. In the micro-setting, a sense of responsibility towards one’s own relatives—which is linked to this discourse—becomes apparent and is intended to be resolved by the employment of a live-in carer. Here, emotions reveal the priorities set by family carers and the conflicts triggered by them. Emotions operate within a field of tension between individual feelings, social norms and ethical judgements. At both levels, it is therefore necessary to theoretically analyse and scrutinise the moral judgements of the individual and the contributions to the discourse. The underlying norms must be identified and subsequently classified ethically. The example of live-in care illustrates the methodological potential of such an analysis: emotions can serve as indicators of moral judgements and reveal their relevance to the individuals concerned. Thus, their sociological analysis can form an important starting point for ethical questions.