Ethics of Caring Conversation and Dialectic of Love and Justice

Through the framework of Ricoeur’s philosophy, Fredriksson and Eriksson develop an influential ethics of the caring conversation, which instructs nurses to have caritas, self-esteem, and autonomy on one hand and to engage respectfully and responsibly in caring conversations on the other. This article brings the ethics of the caring conversation into dialogue with Ricoeur’s philosophy again. While Fredriksson and Eriksson draw upon Ricoeur’s little ethics, this article relies on Ricoeur’s dialectic of love and justice. The dialogue throws light on other aspects of caritas, which is vital in Fredriksson and Eriksson’s ethics. It shows a need for nurses to strike a balance between love and justice and, also, to cultivate love.