Findes der en vårdsubstans? En sygeplejens kærne?

Abstract

In her book »Vårdandets Ide« the finish nurse, Katie Eriksson puts forward the thesis, that all kind af caring activities do have a common core. To establish this thesis professor Eriksson introduces the Aristotelian notion of an essence: Different kinds of caring activities do have a common set of essentiel properties constituting the act of caring.

In this article we submit a thesis to the contrary: There may exist no set of essentiel properties common to all kind of caring activities: The belief is induced in us, that there may exist some common core to all caring activities, because the same term, namely »caring«, is being used as a general term to cover a wide field of very different kinds of activities. Instead of the traditionel Aristotelian craving for generality issuing in the notion of an essence, we suggest the use of the more modern Wittgensteinian concept of a familyresemblance: There may be no common core but a set of familyresemblances among the different kinds of caring activities. Instead of an abstract philosophical search for the common core of caring activities, we propose nurses to look at the actual use of the term »to care«, thereby circumscribing the subjekt matter of caring.

It goes without saying, that this article contains a good deal of philosophical arguments including, of course, an introduction to some basic Aristotelian notions, fundamental distinctions in the theory of difinition, and finally the Wittgensteinian concept of familyresemblance.