ABSTRACT
This paper presents some key points from philosopher Michael Slote’s thinking in his work “The Ethics of Care and Empathy”. We therefore situate his production in the context where the ethics of care was developed and critically questioned, demonstrating primarily the issue of gender which crosses this ethical perspective. Thus, we call upon authors that hold a close dialogue with the issues raised by Slote, as fundamental interlocutors to think about empathy as a fundamental component of the ethics of care. In sequence, we rescued the ontological sense of care and responsibility correlating them with the practice of health care. Finally, we present a paradigmatic case for a concrete debate of the ethics of care and empathy in the context of moral education, highlighting its importance in the higher education process of health professionals in Brazil.
Ethics; Empathy; Gender Identity; Moral Development; Higher Education; Patient-Centered Care; Medical Education