This book offers a model of human agency and motivation in order to argue that ethics is based upon our ontological nature as human beings. The central thesis of this book is that caring is a primordial structure of human existence that takes two forms: caring for self and caring for others.

This dual form of caring is expressed in a variety of ways and functions at four levels: (1) a biological level, at which caring is expressed as instincts for survival and nurturing; (2) a perceptual, reactive level, at which caring is expressed as emotion and as cultural constructions of our world; (3) an evaluative, proactive level, at which caring is expressed as pragmatic projects and social forms of solidarity; and (4) a spiritual level, at which caring is expressed as religion, ethics, and morality. From this analysis, author Stan van Hooft concludes that traditional notions of morality as obligatory should give way to an understanding of ethics as the social forms given to our caring for ourselves and others.

In addition to presenting discussions in professional philosophy, van Hooft hopes to reach readers working in caring professions such as health, social work, and education, in order that such workers might feel less bound by a rule-governed conception of morality.