Charles Taylor,hermeneutics and Social Imaginaries: a framework for ethics research |
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| Authors: | Franco A Carnevale RN PhD |
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| Institution: | 1. Professor, School of Nursing, Associate Member, Department of Pediatrics, Affiliate Member, Biomedical Ethics Unit, and Adjunct Professor, Counseling Psychology, McGill University;2. Clinical Ethicist and Chair, Pediatric Ethics Committee, and Associate Member, Pediatric Critical Care, Montreal Children's Hospital, Montreal, Quebec, Canada |
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| Abstract: | Hermeneutics, also referred to as interpretive phenomenology, has led to important contributions to nursing research. The philosophy of Charles Taylor has been a major source in the development of contemporary hermeneutics, through his ontological and epistemological articulations of the human sciences. The aim of this paper is to demonstrate that Taylor's ideas can further enrich hermeneutic inquiry in nursing research, particularly for investigations of ethical concerns. The paper begins with an outline of Taylor's hermeneutical framework, followed by a review of his key ideas relevant for ethics research. The paper ends with a discussion of my empirical research with critically ill children in Canada and France in relation to Taylor's ideas, chiefly Social Imaginaries. I argue that Taylor's hermeneutics provides a substantive moral framework as well as a methodology for examining ethical concerns. |
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| Keywords: | Charles Taylor ethics hermeneutics paediatric critical care social imaginaries |
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