b. 1946
Eva Feder Kittay (born 1946) is an American philosopher and Distinguished Professor Emerita at Stony Brook University, whose work has been foundational in feminist ethics, the ethics of care, and philosophy of disability. She is best known for challenging liberal political theory's neglect of human dependency, arguing that care and dependency relations must be central to any adequate theory of social justice. Her scholarship draws extensively on her experience as the mother of a daughter with severe cognitive disabilities, grounding abstract philosophical arguments in lived reality.
Developed a care-based critique of Rawlsian liberalism, arguing that the 'veil of ignorance' cannot account for inevitable human dependency
Introduced the concept of 'dependency work' and the 'doulia' principle — the idea that societies owe support to those who provide care
Expanded ethics of care to address severe cognitive disability, personhood, and moral status in 'The Subject of Care' and related work
Authored 'Love's Labor: Essays on Women, Equality, and Dependency' (1999), a landmark text in feminist political philosophy
Argued that social construction of persons is mediated through dependency relations and the labor of caregivers