Phenomenological Concept Research Articles

“Caught in the middle”- emergency doctors and nurses’ experiences of ethical dilemmas in end of life care: A qualitative study

ObjectiveThe integration of end of life care into emergency work is gaining momentum, especially in Australia. Emergency doctors and nurses are increasingly required to make decisions regarding the provision of end of life care. The importance of end of life care for patients and their families in the emergency department is well documented, but ethical dilemmas that arise in end of life care provision are not widely researched. MethodsA qualitative interpretative design and phenomenological approach were used to create an understanding and meaning about ethical dilemmas faced by emergency nurses and doctors in end of life care. Sixteen doctors and nurses were purposively recruited through professional organisations. Data were collected using semi-structured in-depth interviews. Interviews were audio-taped, transcribed verbatim, and thematically analysed using a qualitative seven stage thematic analysis. ResultsThe overarching constitutive pattern ‘decision making processes’ was conceptualised within the two identified major themes including: 1) Short-term (ST) versus Long-term (LT) ethical dilemmas and; 2) Individual versus community ethical dilemmas. These themes were uncovered using the phenomenological hermeneutic concepts of epoche (openness) to construct meaning and understanding for participants. ConclusionsIn this study, the frequent experiences of ethical dilemmas by emergency doctors and nurses demonstrated that end of life care in the emergency department was challenging. The stated experiences were related to barriers that contributed to the complexities reported in making ethical decisions at the end of life. Therefore, an understanding of ethical principles is needed to navigate care for patients and their families for the best possible outcomes.

Phenomenological Method as A Theoretical Basis of Qualitative Methods

This paper discusses the phenomenological method as a theoretical basis for qualitative research. Phenomenology, which originates from the philosophical tradition, emphasizes the importance of understanding individual subjective experiences of a particular phenomenon or event. Through this approach, researchers can deepen and understand individual meanings, perceptions, and interpretations of the reality they experience. This paper explains the basic concepts of phenomenology, contributions from leading philosophers such as Edmund Husserl, Martin Heidegger, and Jean-Paul Sartre, and how phenomenological principles are applied in qualitative research. Apart from that, this paper also reviews the advantages and disadvantages of the phenomenological method in the context of qualitative research and provides examples of its practical application in various fields of study. It is hoped that through this paper, readers can gain a deep understanding of the relevance and significance of phenomenology in qualitative research.

Sensibility in the world of science and gendered society: the ethics and aesthetics of skin in The Skin I Live In

ABSTRACT This paper focuses on the aesthetical and ethical representations of skin in Pedro Almodóvar’s The Skin I Live In (2011). By emphasising the interconnectedness of the skin as an expressive interface mediating between the inner self and the material world, this paper examines how the image of skin extends beyond the visual aesthetics to engage viewers in a haptic sense. I argue that the haptic experience, when actively engaged, can transcend bodily suffering from unjust treatment, charging moving images with ethical consideration and envisioning alternative human bonds in a posthuman condition. By engaging with phenomenological concepts of flesh, intersubjectivity, and interobjectivity, this paper criticises the mistreatment of beings in the scientific field and the objectification of human bodies to sustain a gendered and patriarchal structure. Instead of solely attributing abusive and controlling masculinity and the oppression of women to the patriarchy, it is essential to go beyond traditional categories of male/female and masculinity/femininity and examine the modern systems that excessively alienate human beings. The paper proposes that an individual’s existence precedes social and political identification and advocates for a dynamic way to recognise and describe the process of becoming-body as it continuously undergoes qualitative changes through lived experiences.

Body Transformations and their Phenomenological Hermeneutics: A Study of the Concealed Body Phenomenon in Pre-Islamic Arabic Poetry

This paper discusses the intertwined relationship between the two concepts of phenomenology as an interpretive philosophy for revealing phenomena that leads to the formation of a vision of the world; and phenomenological interpretation as concept as a method of intensive textual reading that deals with phenomena as part of both subject and object embedded in phenomenology. The researcher delves into the concept of phenomenological hermeneutics as a method to uncover the textual meanings in pre-Islamic Arabic poetry. The phenomenon of the body is selected as a sample studied to probe this existing entanglement. Merleau-Ponty's approach and its techniques is applied to tackle this phenomenon of concealed body. The paper attempts to define phenomenological hermeneutics; and examine how Merleau-Ponty's ideas present the body in phenomenological hermeneutics. The hermeneutics transformations which revealed the phenomenon of concealed body, and the techniques of its presence in pre-Islamic Arabic poetry are explored. The concealed body is investigated whether it is considered traveling through a successive poetic technique. The paper also seeks to present a view that covers the characteristics of the concealed body using the techniques of hermeneutics to explore its mysterious identity by presenting various Arabic poetry examples; in an attempt to present a critical phenomenological hermeneutic study that sheds light on the technique of intentional concealment in poetry.

Violence and the Limits of Experience

AbstractThe aim of this article is to explore the question of the limits of experience in light of the phenomenology of violence. I begin by emphasizing the specificity of the phenomenological concept of pre-theoretical experience, in contrast with the traditional concept of experience dominated by theoretical and epistemological motives. Consequently, I underscore that violence can be phenomenologically understood only as a lived experience, given in the first person, belonging to an embodied subject, and placed in an antagonistic intersubjective situation. In order to question how the lived experience of violence discloses the limits of experience, I focus on the concept of the limit and discuss its relevance to phenomenological thought, referring to the limits of phenomenology, limit-problems, limit-phenomena, and limit-situations. I then show that we can differentiate between normal and liminal modes of experience, but we are also dealing with a multitude of levels of experience (visual, auditory, tactile, embodied, affective, intersubjective, comprehensive, and discursive), each of which has its own specific limits. I conclude by analyzing how the phenomenon of violence delineates the limits of experience at each of these levels.

The Shifting Contours of Nostalgia, Homelessness, and Homecoming: Vietnam War Veterans’ Identity

At the end of the Vietnam War, after the U.S. veterans returned to their homeland, they were rejected by their own society and hence experienced an inner state of homelessness. Having faced everyday humiliation and monotonous life in their homeland, they longed for Vietnam where they were once important and desired to return there as tourists now. In this journey of life, they turned out to be existential characters who embody the predicament of existence. In this reflective piece, we use Martin Heidegger’s critical phenomenological concepts of homelessness, being and dasein to make sense of the predicament of the veterans’ return to Vietnam. Drawing on our extensive conversation with them, we reflect on their being: how they are exiled at their homeland, but felt at home upon return to Vietnam; and relatedly, how the ever-changing contours of nostalgia, homelessness, and homecoming bear upon their identity.

Complicating Objectification in the Medical Encounter: Embodied Experiences in the ICU during COVID-19.

Illness and injury are often accompanied by experiences of bodily objectification. Medical treatments intended to restore the structure or function of the body may amplify these experiences of objectification by recasting the patient's body as a biomedical object-something to be examined, measured, and manipulated. In this article, we contribute to the phenomenology of embodiment in illness and medicine by reexamining the results of a qualitative study of the experiences of nurses and patients isolated in an intensive care unit during the first wave of COVID-19. Drawing upon the phenomenological concept of embodiment-as developed in the work of Edmund Husserl, Maurice Merleau-Ponty, Jean-Paul Sartre, and Emmanuel Levinas-we reconsider how bodily objectification manifests in complex clinical encounters. We show that, in these settings, objectification is not simply the unilateral act of a clinician objectifying a patient. Rather, both clinicians and patients reported a variety of objectifying experiences influenced by their interactions, the immediate context of the intensive care milieu, and the broader atmosphere of a global pandemic. In light of these findings, we argue that bodily objectification in illness and medicine can often be more complicated than typically presented in the phenomenological literature.

방과 후 지도강사들의 효과적인 악기 교수전략에 대한 인식과 방과 후 음악교육 발전을 위한 제안

Objectives The purposes of this study were to explore effective musical instrument teaching strategies perceived by after-school instructors and propose suggestions for the development of after-school music education. Methods Five after-school instructors were interviewed, and the essence of their perceptions, commonly found in their experiences, was extracted using Colaizzi's phenomenological qualitative research analysis method. At all stages of the research, the main concepts of phenomenology, such as reduction and suspension of judgment, intersubjectivity, intentionality, and essential intuition, were explored and described with an open attitude. Results The results indicate that after-school instructors recognize engaging song selection, clear and concise instruction, repetitive learning, individualized teaching, and respecting students' opinions as effective teaching strategies. Additionally, they suggest expanding integrated arts education, introducing intra-school competitions, providing collaborative performance opportunities, regular concert attendance, and finally, offering diverse program options for the advancement of after-school music education. Conclusions In conclusion, implications for after-school music education and suggestions for future research are provided.

Art, Politics, and the Complexity of homo faber in Hannah Arendt’s Philosophy

ABSTRACT The aim of this paper is to articulate and analyse the complexity of the concept of work in Hannah Arendt’s philosophy. Work is usually interpreted as antithetical to political action. This claim merits specification: only the instrumental, utilitarian strand of homo faber poses real danger to authentic politics. By contrast, the artistic or cultural mode of homo faber is not only compatible with Arendt’s understanding of politics, but in fact indispensable for any form of political longevity. Enduring political existence is impossible without the constant support of artists, poets, historiographers and monument-builders who reify and memorialize the key meanings of political communities. This claim is substantiated by applying the phenomenological concept of sedimentation and drawing the political implications of this application. However, similarly to Edmund Husserl, Arendt identified a dual, problematic nature of sedimentation that underscores the importance of natality and thinking in artistic practice.

Factors affecting professional identity formation of basic medical sciences teachers in Pakistan: a phenomenological analysis of interviews

IntroductionTeachers can perceive themselves as a true teacher and act as one only if they have a strong professional identity. This study aimed to identify factors that shape the unique professional identity of basic medical sciences teachers in Pakistan.MethodsA qualitative study was performed using the concepts of phenomenology and purposive sampling. A 20-item text-based interview was conducted by sharing a Google Form link with basic medical sciences teachers from select institutions. Iterative data collection and analysis were performed until data saturation was attained.ResultsA total of 40 participants took part in the study. Nine categories were identified and grouped into two major themes: four personal and five environmental factors. Personal factors included characteristics, preferences, religious values, and professional development. Environmental factors included community of practice, students' feedback, administrative support, work environment, and societal apathy. Among these factors, aptitude, family preference or work-life balance, hard work, dedication, and effect on parenting were more evident in women. By contrast, passion, experience, complacency, and unique identity were the prominent factors.DiscussionCommunity of practice [31 (77%)], passion for teaching [21 (52%)], students' feedback [18 (45%)], work-life balance [16 (40%)], and religious values [13 (32%)] were the primary positive contributors to the identity of basic medical sciences teachers. By contrast, poor administrative support [8 (20%)], negative work environment [11 (27%)], job dissatisfaction [7 (17%)], societal apathy [4 (10%)], and lack of opportunities for professional growth [6 (15%)] negatively impact the professional identity of basic medical sciences teachers.

Pendekatan Fenomenologi Husserl dan Kontribusinya bagi Pengembangan Dakwah di Indonesia

Religious practices and community social interactions give birth to many events that have different meanings for each person. Revealing the hidden meaning of an event, especially from the perspective of the person experiencing it, can be done with a phenomenological approach. The purpose of this research is to explain the contribution of Husserl's phenomenological approach to the development of Islamic da'wah.. This research is a literature research on Husserl's phenomenological concept and how to apply it in da'wah. Data were collected from various documents related to the main topic, both from print and electronic sources. Miles & Huberman's qualitative interactive analysis was used to analyze the data through the stages of data presentation, data reduction, and conclusion drawing. The results showed that basically phenomenological studies attempt to find the meaning or value of a phenomenon with two main things in focus, namely textural description and structural description. Textural description is about what is experienced, while structural description is related to how the context influences the subject in experiencing and interpreting the phenomenon. Husserl's phenomenological approach is one of the right approaches in examining social and religious phenomena and then conveying the content of da'wah in accordance with existing phenomena in the perspective of Islamic teachings so as to provide a holistic understanding of the phenomenon.

Structural–Phenomenological Concept and Acoustic-Emission Diagnostics of Composite Stringers under Three-Point Bending Conditions

Structural–Phenomenological Concept and Acoustic-Emission Diagnostics of Composite Stringers under Three-Point Bending Conditions

WOMEN'S TESTIMONY IN THE QUR'AN IN ASGHAR ALI ENGINEER'S PERSPECTIVE

Discussions about gender issues in contemporary times are never-ending topics, including in the realm of Islamic studies. This study examines women's testimonies in Asghar Ali Engineer's thoughts, which are analyzed using Paul Ricoeur's hermeneutical phenomenological framework. Engineer's thoughts regarding women's testimony are important to discuss because of the dismantling of the discourse he carried out regarding verses with gender connotations in the Al-Qur'an, which often do not follow the mainstream interpretation. This research is library research with qualitative research methods. The primary source for this research is Asghar Ali Engineer's interpretation of verses from women's testimonies, while the secondary sources used are other literature sources that are relevant to the research, both in the form of books and journal articles. This research aims to track and explore Asghar Ali Engineer's thoughts regarding the verses in women's testimonies. The author uses Paul Ricoeur's hermeneutic phenomenology theory in analyzing Asghar Ali's thoughts. The results of this research were the engineer's re-reading of the verse about women's testimony, namely QS. Al-Baqarah/2: 282. In Paul Ricoer's concept of hermeneutical phenomenology, engineers go through a process of decontextualization-recontextualization in order to obtain new meanings that are relevant to the current context. In the decontextualization process, Engineer explained the socio-cultural conditions at the time the verse was revealed, which implied that women lacked knowledge and experience regarding business, so that one additional female witness was needed as a reminder, and it did not fully mean that women's status was half that of men. The recontextualization process includes three stages, namely semantic, reflexive, and existential. In the modern context where women are more educated about financial matters, even more so than men, there is nothing to prevent a woman's position as a witness from being equal to that of a man.

When at home: a phenomenological study of zoom class experience during the COVID-19 pandemic

In a preliminary study conducted during the early phase of the COVID-19 pandemic, i.e., the spring 2021 semester, this paper explores the integration of Zoom into online learning while in-person teaching was paused. This pilot study aims to offer initial insights to improve inclusivity and accessibility in teaching and learning. While more robust empirical research has since been conducted to enhance Zoom-based learning environments, the findings from this study remain foundational and complementary to ongoing and future pedagogical research in online education and digital pedagogy. During a one-month ethnographic study involving five participants, including college students and professors, Maurice Merleau-Ponty’s phenomenological concepts were applied to investigate how students and educators navigate temporal and spatial challenges in Zoom meetings and the strategies they use to overcome these obstacles. Additionally, an experiential autoethnography was employed to document personal experiences beyond the Zoom classroom, providing insight into participants' daily lives. By capturing a snapshot of the initial transition to remote education, particularly through Zoom meetings, this study offers valuable information for improving the online learning experience for both students and educators.

The Application of Husserlian Phenomenology to the Examination of the Translatability of Criminal Law Practices Across American and Italian Culture in the Prosecution and Acquittal of Amanda Knox

AbstractThis Article uses various concepts of Husserlian phenomenology to explain the disparate opinion between the North American and Italian public in response to the prosecution and ultimate acquittal of Amanda Knox. This Article argues that the comparative difference in public opinion is due to an extensive shift in culture that is necessarily accompanied by a shift in spatial-temporal location. In this Article, the Husserlian concepts of intentionality, the Self, the Other-I, and empathy overlay the judicial opinions and media releases critical to shaping North American and Italian public perceptions of Amanda Knox. As applied, these Husserlian concepts function as interpretive lenses, providing the reader with a novel framework for analyzing the cause of interpretive difference across cultures.

Cultural Crisis and the Phenomenological Concept of Sedimentation in E. Husserl’s Philosophy

Husserl names the dynamics of cultural objectifications with the term sedimentation, which includes the formulation of the discovered meaning in material sensory expressions and the reactivation of these passively existing meanings. This paper analyzes this concept of sedimentation and places it in the context of Husserl’s thoughts on the crisis of culture. Unlike the usual interpretations of Husserl’s philosophy of culture which state that the crisis of sciences arises from the inadequacy of their ‘scientificity’ and inability to solve the problems of the meaning of life, I argue that the crisis can be understood as the result of the duality of sedimentation. Sedimentations not only preserve knowledge, but also create the illusion that knowledge reproduces itself. When reflecting on the crisis of culture, Husserl turns from theoretical philosophy to practical philosophy.

A phenomenological learning approach to leading digitalization

Existing theory in the field of digital leadership describes many different skills that leaders need to possess to succeed in leading digitalization. By exploring existing theories and engaging qualitatively with leaders in practice, this article identifies a gap between the skills the theory dictates leaders should possess and the skills leaders possess in practice. In practice, the number of skills required and the complexity of digital leadership cause leaders to perceive the acquisition of the necessary skill set as unmanageable. By engaging phenomenologically with the fact that one cannot know what one does not know, this article shows how digital leadership skills can be learned and developed. Combining phenomenological concepts like common sense, a reference frame, and being a stranger with competence development theory reveals a way that leaders can indeed develop their digital leadership and their competencies, although the competencies of each digital leader will be unique. Furthermore, leading digitalization is shown to start at the intrapersonal level, in part because of the importance of authenticity in leadership practice. The overall aim of the article is to explore, through a phenomenological learning process, how digital leadership can be developed.

Phenomenology of Reference in Male Seduction: “Pragmatic Love” by Alia Mamdouh as a Model

The research frames its critical approaches on two axes. The first deals with the "phenomenological concept," relying on its principal propositions, along with a section on procedural intersection based on philosophical comments that literary theorists have made consistent with the specificity of the literary work. This makes "the coupling of phenomenology with the conditions of literature" a key to the method's validity before concluding with the observation of "probability and the signs of appearance" and "reference and the ways of introspection." The other axis explored the references to male seduction in the novel "Pragmatic Love" by the novelist "Alia Mamdouh." It observed the manifestations of reference in the seductive models it contained, where the male character "Bahr" exercised persuasive skill to attract the female "Rawiya," through studies of "reference through the logic of seduction," "reference through imaginative seduction," "reference through the culture of seduction," and "reference through physical seduction." The research concluded with results, the most important of which was that Gadamer and Ricoeur contributed to the crystallization of a phenomenology reconciled with literature. Moreover, the studied novel broke the conventions of seduction and made its areas of effectiveness carry a referential energy that reorders the structure and meaning to achieve implicit plots, the evidence of which the reader creates.

On the determination of the quasi-static evolution of brittle plane cracks via stationarity principle

The crack front evolution in brittle solids is commonly modelled by defining some crack increment criterion, which can be derived from considerations on the stress singularity, from the definition of a dissipative potential, from the introduction of phenomenological concepts such as the crack mobility, and so on. In this work, we faced the problem with no allowance for any crack increment criterion, but using only the elastic properties, the fracture energy, and a stationarity principle. We will show that these ingredients are enough for determining the equilibrium and the quasi-static evolution of generally shaped three-dimensional brittle plane cracks. In doing this, we pointed out some new insight on the crack front motion, a set of new, generalised, domain integrals for measuring the pointwise crack ‘tension’, and a rigorous calculation of the intersection angle between the crack front and the free surface.

From the Phenomenology of Reactivation to the Hermeneutics of Innovation

Abstract While in Husserl’s and Merleau-Ponty’s writings, the concept of sedimentation was linked to that of reactivation, Ricœur replaced the juxtaposition of these two concepts with the collocation of sedimentation and innovation. The central goal of this paper is to clarify why Ricœur replaces the phenomenological concept of reactivation with the hermeneutical concept of innovation. After explicating how reactivation was understood in Husserlian phenomenology, I show why this concept is out of place in Ricœur’s phenomenological hermeneutics. I further identify four possible ways to understand the relation between Ricœur’s hermeneutics of innovation and Husserl’s phenomenology of reactivation. Afterwards, while offering a detailed analysis of the threefold mimesis—the central theme in Ricœur’s Time and Narrative—I show that Ricœur’s concept of innovation is tied to that of productive imagination. Ricœur’s productive imagination is therefore not any kind of creatio ex nihilo. Being rooted in cultural and historical worlds, productive imagination configures and reconfigures the world against the background of sedimented prefigurations. While Husserl had offered a vertical model to understand sedimentations, and while Merleau-Ponty had replaced this model with a horizontal one, Ricœur’s model can be qualified as circular: the dialectical play of sedimentations and innovations shapes the hermeneutical circle within which the human experience of the world unfolds. This means: just as productive imagination is grounded in sedimentations, so also, sedimentations spring from productive imagination.