In part this imbalance results from the emphasis in American society on distinctiveness and separation in contrast to an emphasis on connectedness and similarities between people that exists in many other societies. This emphasis, in turn, has been reinforced by the American economic and political systems. The wheels of American business are often greased with a spirit of competition and a win-lose mentality. It is in this analysis that Carol Gilligan becomes “revolutionary” in not only her formulation of a contextual epistemology but also her advocacy of a society that balances individual rights and collective responsibility.
Revolution and Relationship
Significant differences of perspective and practice does not deter Carol Gilligan from staying connected to Lawrence Kohlberg. She is a revolutionary who never fully leaves behind her home. Similarly, Bach’s sons remain close to their father. The sons of Papa Bach saw that music must be directed more broadly to the emerging Middle Class. Their father could appreciate this broader appeal. He might similarly have admired Carol Gilligan’s deeply embedded values and views on ethical behavior. Her perspective would have aligned with his own deeply held religious beliefs. Perhaps, Papa Bach invites Carol to one of his Sunday concerts at a nearby coffee house. Abraham Lincoln might have similarly admired Carol Gilligan’s balancing of rights and responsibilities. He would undoubtedly have invited Carol Gilligan for tea at the White House – and perhaps recruited her to become a member of his cabinet.
Each of these imagined invitations for coffee or team suggests that there is a common ingredient to be found in all sustained relationships. This common ingredient might center on the presence in all of the real and imagined relationship I have described of something above and beyond differences in perspective and practice—and differences in cultural values across a generation or even several hundred years. There is a “glue” that enables the relationships to endure. In each case, something was engaged that went beyond their immediate differences.
A “revolution” took place in the music being composed by the Bach family. Yet, father and sons could unite in their shared belief that music is in some way transcendent of specific forms and fashion. Shared commitments were being made among members of Lincoln’s cabinet to national unification. Rivalry was set aside on behalf of a war that must be won. Both Kohlberg and Gilligan believed that it was critical to determine how people arrive at moral decisions and find an ethical way to lead their life. Even beyond this focus on morality and ethics, there was an abiding interest on the part of both Kohlberg and Gilligan in the nature and dynamics of knowledge (epistemology). Both inherited this interest from Jean Piaget. [I wonder if shared inheritance is often to be found among those who remain in a relationship despite major differences of perspective and practice.] In this case, Swiss biology was fully interwoven with American psychology. It was just a matter of a different cloth emerging from the studies of Kohlberg and those of Gilligan.
