A Good Life
Morality and care appear as interrelated concepts in the lives of human beings. Human beings feel obliged to give and receive care in a bid to appear morally responsible. However, the relationship between care and morality has limits. For example, providing and receiving care does not justify such acts as breaking promises, going beyond regulations, and harming other people. Joan Tronto believes that the goodness of a person is rated on the degree of care that they give. However, Tronto understands the limits that have to be considered when providing care. The idea of Tronto is reflected in the life of Timothy Treadwell, as depicted in the movie, Grizzly Man. Treadwell appears obsessed with the desire to provide care to the extent of forgetting the limits he has to keep in his interaction with mother nature. Timothy Treadwell’s interaction with grizzly bears leads to harm both on himself and the bears that he had claimed to care for in the ice fields. The desire of Timothy Treadwell to lead a good life b showing care to nature is short-lived because a boundary exists beyond which human care to nature is not necessary.
The desire to do good puts people in crisis. Although caring is aimed at ensuring that other people or organisms are satisfied, the care should not involve causing harm to any party involved. Tronto argues that caring is an adequate measure for good in person. However, the claim by Tronto does not imply that absolute care makes one be adjudged as moral (Tronto, 1993). The case of Timothy Treadwell is a case of confusion and obsession. All his life, Treadwell believed that his love for nature could not be compared to anything else (Herzog, 2005). Besides, Treadwell could not admit that his relationship with the bears had limits. Moreover, Treadwell did not believe that the bears could be responsible for his death, although he was determined to fight for them when the need arose. Generally, giving or receiving care is not an obligation, and therefore, the issue of success or failure is not justified.
Givers or receivers of care are agents of free will. Therefore, care is not measured in terms of success or failure. The success of care can, however, be viewed in terms of moral obligation with people seeking the satisfaction that comes in doing good. Generally, straining to provide care cannot be accounted for, and people who strain to care do not adhere to ethics of care (Tronto, 1993). Besides, straining to provide care could have severe consequences. Timothy Treadwell must have known the danger behind his care for grizzly bears. However, Treadwell strained as much as he could to see that the bears were comfortable and felt loved. The fact that Treadwell traveled every summer to spend time with the bears shows how much he was willing to give all his efforts for the wellbeing of the bears. Treadwell was, however, unfortunate to suffer the consequences of straining to provide care. The bears did not need Treadwell’s care, and they ended up killing him.
Care should be provided based on consent from both parties involved. If either the giver or the receiver is not interested in the process, then care, ceases to be a moral responsibility (Tronto, 1993). The need for consent if aimed at preventing harm for either party. The idea of consent is evident in the life of Timothy Treadwell. Treadwell appears to be the only interested party in the process of giving care.
Moreover, the attempts to provide the care put Treadwell into danger, and thus harm was on his way also. Bears are known to be uncomfortable in the presence of human beings. Mother nature appears to have placed an unbreakable boundary on the relationships between humans and nature. Treadwell, however, attempted to go beyond the boundaries by providing care that was not needed and appreciated (Herzog, 2005). The behavior portrayed by the bears was a sign that Treadwell was a bother instead of a caregiver. Moreover, one standard of ethical care is attentiveness to consider the needs of the other party before going on to address the needs.
One ethical standard for care is the need for attentiveness. The needs of care receivers form a crucial part in addressing the needs of care. When care is not attentive, chances exist that the process of giving care will be faulty. Also, the lack of attentiveness may play a role in harming one or both parties in the caregiving process. Timothy Treadwell is not attentive. The opinion held by Treadwell is that bears need care and love and that he was responsible for giving the care. The mistake that Treadwell made was assuming that his care towards grizzly bears would be received in good faith.
Moreover, Treadwell ignored even the rules set by park managers on the extent to which individuals would not go beyond while interacting with animals. The lack of attentiveness caused harm both to Treadwell and the bears (Herzog, 2005). First, the bears were not comfortable around a human being, as well as the touching did by Treadwell. Therefore, the comfort of the bears was disrupted by the presence of Treadwell hence their psychological harm. On the other hand, Treadwell was harmed during his last trip to the ice fields. The bear that was not comfortable with Treadwell around it attacked Treadwell and his girlfriend and killed them.
Ethical care does not overlook the standards of responsibility. Generally, ethical care is founded on the belief that human beings are responsible for providing care. However, Tronto highlights the challenges that face ethical care. According to Tronto (1993), responsibility does not force anyone to provide care. Instead, the responsibility of offering care should be accepted where circumstances are conducive. Besides, no one should take harmful action under the excuse of providing care. The attempts of Timothy Treadwell went against the responsibility standard. According to Treadwell, his responsibility was to provide care to the bears since no one was interested in caring for the beasts. However, the danger involved was high, and Treadwell did not have to take the risk. Besides, no responsibility would be so crucial as to endanger one’s life at the expense of saving the life of an animal. Generally, nature is self-sufficient, and providing care to animals can only be equaled to blaming mother nature for not sustaining creatures.
Another ethical care standard is competence. Competence works in the sense that a caregiver should not be undertaking an activity that does not match their experience. Care is said to be completely delivered after the receiver is satisfied with the service given. Besides, if care is given in the wrong way, or harms the receiver, then the requirements of caregiving are not met. Competence ranges from the acceptance of responsibility to the knowledge of involved risks. The case of Timothy Treadwell was a clear lack of competence (Herzog, 2005). First, Treadwell did not appear competent in his methods of handling bears. Bears are known to hate being touched by human beings, but Treadwell did not seem to have such information. Also, Treadwell took unnecessary risks by going to close to animals that had a history of killing human beings. At one point, a bear that Treadwell was swimming alongside destroyed his torch, but Treadwell did not take that as a warning for the impending danger. If Treadwell were competent, risks such as swimming alongside bears would not be accepted. Generally, ethical care considers the safety of all the parties involved; hence, competence is advocated.
A care-receiver plays the role of responding to the care given. Ethical care is also founded in the standard of responsiveness to assess the need for providing care. If the response shows no appreciation, the care should be withdrawn according to ethical standards (Tronto, 1993). The challenge that caregivers face is the nature of people to prefer self-support at the expense of receiving care. Other organisms are also created similarly, and provision of care may easily be viewed as a bother. In the case of Treadwell, the response from the bears was an indication that the care was not needed. However, Treadwell insisted on remaining positive on the attempts to care for the bears. Mostly, acting against ethical standards is accompanied by consequences, which may turn out to be severe. Treadwell, for example, overlooks the standards of responsiveness and loses his life as a result. Generally, responsiveness indicates whether care should be given or withdrawn.
Ethical care is distinct from the search for legacy. Legacy is left where an individual goes beyond the limits of ethical care to take risks that are uncalled for under any circumstances. The love of bears by Treadwell could not contain him under the limits of ethical care (Herzog, 2005). Although the bears cut his desire short by killing him, Treadwell had already established a legacy that has remained firm for years. Moreover, Treadwell had a passion for his actions and did not relent in showing love for creatures that did not appreciate his efforts. Generally, Timothy Treadwell was not motivated by ethical care rather by a strong love for the bears.
In sum, the idea of Tronto on ethical care is reflected in the life of Timothy Treadwell, as depicted in the movie, Grizzly Man. The desire of Timothy Treadwell to lead a good life b showing care to nature is short-lived because a boundary exists beyond which human care to nature is not necessary. Ethical care operates under four standards that Treadwell overlooked: responsiveness, competence, responsibility, and attentiveness. Generally, ethical care considers the safety of all the parties involved; hence, competence is advocated.
References
Ginsburg, B. L. (2018). The Ethosophy of the Grizzly Man: Timothy Treadwell’s Three Ethologies.
Herzog, W. (2005). Grizzly Man- A compelling documentary look at the life and death of wildlife preservationist Timothy Treadwell, who lived unarmed among grizzly bears in Alaska retrieved from https://tubitv.com/movies/393462/grizzly_man
Tronto, J. C. (1993). Moral boundaries: A political argument for an ethic of care. Psychology Press.