Daoist Ci 慈, Feminist Ethics of Care, and the Dilemma of Nature

In recent discussion on comparative ethics, extensive scholarship has been devoted to a comparative study of Confucian ren 仁(often translated as humaneness or benevolence) and feminist ethics of care, while such cross-cultural study on the Daoist concept of ci 慈 (customarily translated as compassion) and its intersection with care ethics has been lacking. This paper explores the reasons and concludes that Daoists do care. However, their conception of care goes beyond the Confucian ren and pure care ethics or even counter-opposes them so as to bring forward the true meaning of care. Daoist care is a powerful tool in our approach to ecology.