Danningens vesen i møtet med det lidende mennesket

Abstract

The background of this thesis is the encounter between the caregiver and the patient, and to understand the potential of the meeting and its significance for formation. The overall purpose of this research is to develop knowledge about formation, in the encounter with the suffering human being. The research is rooted in a caring tradition, derived from the idea of caritas and ethos. Methodologically, the research is based on Gadamer’s philosophical hermeneutic. The research material consists of classical texts from the Greek tragedies, a philosophical text by F.W.J. Schelling (1775 – 1854), and research dialogues with ten nurses. The methods are hermeneutical research dialogues, hermeneutical reading and interpretation of the three materials. This research culminates in four main themes: The core substance of formation – a life-bearing encounter characterised by love and reciprocity, The core substance of formation – interaction with suffering, a struggle requiring will and strength, The core substance of formation – movement between being free, constrained and connected and The core substance of formation – a space for transformation, development and becoming. Based on the meaningful themes, the concepts of love, the struggle of suffering, freedom and becoming emerge. New knowledge of the core substance of formation is connected to a deeper ontological love, developed in life-bearing meetings. In creative movements, the human being develops, in the face of suffering. The core substance of formation is connected to the development of the human being's inner freedom, where one is both bound and connected to the other and to something universal. The progressive element in the core substance of formation is related to becoming. Becoming describes an ethical and existential development, in which something becomes active and alive in the human being. In the deep silent moments where one is involved in an encounter that relieves suffering, and where we see and understand ourselves in a new and deeper way, man becomes.