Menneskets verdighet i kraft av det hellige rommet

Abstract

The purpose of this thesis is to increase the understanding of and acquire knowledge about the nature of dignity in a caring science perspective. The study's starting point is the Caring Science research tradition developed by Eriksson and her research colleagues at Åbo Akademi University in Finland. The methodological approach is Gadamer’s (2007) ontological hermeneutics. The scientific interest has been directed at developing knowledge of the substance of dignity as a constituent of the core of caring science. The research therefore provides new substance to the axiom of dignity at Åbo Akademi University. The overarching research question is: What is the substance of dignity in light of Pico's Oratio, texts that interpret Oratio (Cassirer, 1942) (Kristeller, 1948) (Lindborg, 1974) (Nielsen, 2007), and empirical data from interviews with elderly women? The research questions linked to the empirical material are: What is dignity in light of aging and failing health? What is dignity for women when they look back on their lives? What do the women do to maintain their dignity? The research culminates in eight themes of dignity: love, holiness, greatness, freedom, human office, reconciliation, truth and beauty. These eight themes are sharpened and become four dignity themes: holiness, freedom, truth and beauty, where holiness symbolizes dignity’s innermost core. Man is created with dignity and is thus worthy throughout life. But in the particular life, the suffering human being can lose contact with his holiness and dignity. The more man extends towards the power source of dignity in the drama of suffering, the closer he gets to his own ontological core. The study’s findings help deepen the core of Caring Science theory.