How Ad Astra Illustrates Carol Gilligan’s Ethics of Care

A man named Heinz considers whether or not to steal a drug in order to save the life of his wife. He cannot afford the drug. Should Heinz steal it?

This moral dilemma was devised by Lawrence Kohlberg to measure a child’s moral development. If you are up for it, it is genuinely worth it to think how you would answer it: would you steal the drug if you were Heinz? I will discuss the “answer” below this picture of Carol Gilligan and Brad Pitt.

If you are like most people, and especially if you are male, you will likely think of Heinz’s dilemma in terms of justice, fairness, and/or the “golden rule.” If you’re freshly schooled by The Good Place, you may ask: “how much harm is caused, and how much benefit is provided by stealing the drug?” (Hey there, Bentham) Or, “would stealing the drug be a universally accepted behavior?” (Hi Kant) And for star students, “would stealing the drug make you a virtuous person?” (Howdy, Aristotle)

Throughout a decade of research, Carol Gilligan noticed a pattern in how kids answered Heinz’s dilemma, in which women answered In A Different Voice — the title of her book on a psychological theory of lifecycle and moral development. She emphasizes that this different voice “is characterized not by gender but theme,” however, she traces its development “primarily through…