Universalism

In ethics, universalism is regarded as the central criterion for the justification of principles and norms to be observed. There, the validity of ethical principles and norms depends on their justifiability with regard to the general goals of humanity. Since all people depend on care in their lives, the needs of care are to be understood as universal and their fulfillment can be used as a justification for the right to care as a corresponding human right (cf. Engster 2007: 163 ff.). In addition, universalism can be applied to access to care services and thus to care policies. Guaranteeing universal access to care services for all people in a society means “that access is guaranteed to all, irrespective of sex, racial or ethnic origin, religion or belief, disability, age or sexual orientation, gender identity and/or expression […]” (Social Platform 2012: 23). Furthermore, universalism is also related to funding. The principle of universalistic financing “creates the conditions for all social groups to participate according to their income, thus enabling a social balance to be achieved” (Theobald 2022).