Burdened Relationality: A Critical Examination of the Paternalism Inherent in the Care Ethics of Posthumanism

This essay examines the paternalism embedded in care ethics within post-humanist thought, focusing on Sunaura Taylor’s “Beasts of Burden.” Though care appears morally necessary, it often sustains the hierarchies it aims to undo. When filtered through humanist values, care can infantilize marginalized beings and reinforce their dependence. The essay critiques this dynamic through 3 lenses: Indigenous reciprocity, the production of the corpse, and new materialist assemblages. These frameworks expose how able-bodied humans assign worth and decide who receives care. The result is a selective, conditional ethics that centers on human benefit. True post-humanist care, the essay argues, demands a collapse of anthropocentric boundaries; it calls for co-agency, not management. In this, reciprocity must replace domination. All beings, human and non-human, ought to be recognized as active participants in care, not passive recipients. Only then can we move beyond moral control toward ethical coexistence.