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Phenomenology as a resource for patients

Carel, Havi

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Authors

Havi Carel



Abstract

Patient support tools have drawn on a variety of disciplines, including psychotherapy, social psychology, and social care. One discipline that has not so far been used to support patients is philosophy. This paper proposes that a particular philosophical approach, phenomenology, could prove useful for patients, giving them tools to reflect on and expand their understanding of their illness. I present a framework for a resource that could help patients to philosophically examine their illness, its impact on their life, and its meaning. I explain the need for such a resource, provide philosophical grounding for it, and outline the epistemic and existential gains philosophy offers. Illness often begins as an intrusion on one's life but with time becomes a way of being. I argue that this transition impacts on core human features such as the experience of space and time, human abilities, and adaptability. It therefore requires philosophical analysis and response. The paper uses ideas from Husserl and Merleau-Ponty to present such a response in the form of a phenomenological toolkit for patients. The toolkit includes viewing illness as a form of phenomenological reduction, thematizing illness, and examining illness as altering the ill person's being in the world. I suggest that this toolkit could be offered to patients as a workshop, using phenomenological concepts, texts, and film clips to reflect on illness. I conclude by arguing that examining illness as a limit case of embodied existence deepens our understanding of phenomenology.© The Author 2012. Published by Oxford University Press, on behalf of the Journal of Medicine and Philosophy Inc. All rights reserved.

Citation

Carel, H. (2012). Phenomenology as a resource for patients. Journal of Medicine and Philosophy, 37(2), 96-113. https://doi.org/10.1093/jmp/jhs008

Journal Article Type Article
Publication Date Apr 1, 2012
Deposit Date Dec 8, 2011
Publicly Available Date Dec 2, 2016
Journal Journal of Medicine and Philosophy (United Kingdom)
Print ISSN 0360-5310
Electronic ISSN 1744-5019
Publisher Oxford University Press (OUP)
Peer Reviewed Peer Reviewed
Volume 37
Issue 2
Pages 96-113
DOI https://doi.org/10.1093/jmp/jhs008
Keywords phenomenology, patient support, patient experience, lived experience, illness, phenomenological reduction, thematisation, being in the world, embodiment, perception, Merleau-Ponty, Husserl, Heidegger
Public URL https://uwe-repository.worktribe.com/output/956996
Publisher URL http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/jmp/jhs008

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