Ways of Knowing

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Ways of Knowing

• Augsburg College
• NUR 306
• Week One

2
Introduction

• Nursing is

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What is Health Nursing?

• Complex
• Word Symbols
• Ideas
• Abstract concepts terms

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Ways of Knowing in Nursing.

• Varying views of reality lead to different
  nursing beliefs, theories, and educational
  approaches
• Core beliefs affect how you practice nursing
• Your practice must be in harmony with your
  beliefs about what is real and true
• Important to know your core beliefs

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Metaphysics - what is real

• Cosmological
• Theological
• Anthropological
• Ontological

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Metaphysics - what is real

• Cosmological - Origin nature of universe
• Theological - Nature of God
• Anthropological - Nature of human being
• Ontological - Nature of existence

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Cosmological

• Study of the theories about the origin, nature,
  and development of the universe
• How did the universe originate and develop?
• Is there a purpose towards which the universe is
  tending?
• What is the nature of time and space?

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Theology

• Is there a God?
• Is there more than 1 God?
• What are Gods attributes
• Good evil?
• All powerful?
• Are there angels?
• Is there an evil power?

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Theological - What do we mean by God

• Atheists - there is no God
• Pantheists - God and the Universe are identical
• Deists - God is the maker of nature moral laws,
  God exists apart from and is not interested in
  humankind or the physical Universe
• Theists - there is a personal Creator/God
• Polytheists - there are many Gods
• Monotheists - there is one God

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Anthropological

• Humankind is both the subject and object of
  inquiry
• What is the relationship between mind and body?
• Is mind more fundamental than body or vice versa?
• Is there an interaction between mind and body?
• What is humankinds moral status?
• Are people born good, evil, morally neutral?
• To what extent are individuals free?
• Does and individual have free will or are they
  destined?
• Does an individual have a soul?

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Ontological

• The study of the nature of existence, or what
  it means to be
• Is basic reality found in matter or physical
  energy (the world we can sense), or
  spirit/spiritual energy?
• Is reality lawful and orderly or chaotic?
• Is reality fixed and stable or ever-changeable?
• Is reality friendly, unfriendly, or neutral in
  regard to humanity?

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Epistemological Beliefs vs. Metaphysical Beliefs

• Metaphysical Beliefs - what is real?
• Epistemological Beliefs - what is true?
• These two beliefs are at the very core of nursing

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Basic Question In Epistemology

• Is there truth independent of human
  experience?
• A Priori knowledge
• A Posteriori knowledge

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A Priori Knowledge

• Is independent of human awareness
• Is true whether humans know/accept it or not
• Exists prior to human experience
• Traditional science has upheld the superiority of
  a priori knowledge as it represents the fixed and
  permanent world that is uncontaminated by human
  knowers

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A Posteriori Knowledge

• Requires human experience for verification of
  truth/knowledge
• Modern philosophers claim a posteriori knowledge
  is superior, and that a priori knowledge does not
  even exist!

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3 Basic Positions on the Objectivity of Knowledge

• Humans are recipients in the knowledge process.
• Humans are participants in the knowledge
  process.
• Humans exist as pure objects who become
  manufacturers of truth rather than recipients or
  participants

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Sources of Knowledge

• Empirical Knowledge composed of ideas formed
  from observable data
• Sensory Knowledge knowledge obtained through the
  Senses
• Revelatory Knowledge knowledge that is revealed
  through a transcendent or supernatural reality
  that breaks into the natural order/reality

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Sources of Knowledge

• Authoritative Knowledge accepted as truth
  because it comes from experts or is sanctioned
  over time by tradition
• Rationalism/Reason emphasizes the power of
  thought what the mind contributes to knowledge,
  the senses are not enough
• Intuition knowledge that is not the result of
  conscious reasoning

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Validity of Knowledge

• Corresponding Theory
• Coherence Theory
• Pragmatic Theory

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Validity of Knowledge - Tests of Truths

• Correspondence Theory
• theory fits the data collected analyzed through
  research
• if the judgement corresponds with the facts it is
  true
• method most often used by those working in the
  sciences

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Validity of Knowledge - Tests of Truths

• Coherence Theory
• places its trust in the consistency of harmony of
  all ones judgments
• a judgment is true if it is consistent with other
  judgments that have previously been accepted as
  true
• there is an agreement on the boundaries, logic
  phenomenon of the theory

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Validity of Knowledge - Tests of Truths

• Pragmatic Theory
• there is NO such thing as static or absolute
  truth
• people know only their own experiences
• the test of truth is in its utility, workability,
  or satisfactory consequences

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Value Systems

• Not universally agreed upon
• What a person or society conceives of as being
  good or preferable
• Built upon different conceptions of reality
• Problems arise when two different value systems
  are held by a society, person, or profession
• Individual social life is based on a value
  system

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Conceived vs. Operative Values

• Conceived Values
• values that people verbalize but may not
  actualize
• Operative Values
• values that people act upon

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Worldviews (paradigms)

• Explanations given for life events
• All beliefs and values regarding health care are
  derived from a persons basic worldview
• 3 Major Worldviews
• 1. Magicoreligious
• 2. Scientific
• 3. Holistic

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Magicoreligious Worldview

• The fate of the world depends on God, gods, or
  supernatural forces
• Events can be responsible for illnesses (sorcery,
  breach of taboo, disease-causing spirits, loss of
  soul).
• Relates to a psychic or metaphysical need of
  humanity for integration and harmony

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Scientific Worldview

• DETERMINISM a cause and effect relationship
  exists for all phenomena
• MECHANISM the relating of life to the structure
  and function of machines
• REDUCTIONISM the division of all life into
  isolated smaller parts to better study or
  understand the whole
• OBJECTIVE MATERIALISM that which is real can be
  observed and measured

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Holistic Worldview

• The forces of nature must be kept in harmony or
  balance
• All is connected, inter-related, separate and yet
  part of a Whole

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Axiology, Ethics, Aesthetics

• Axiology asks what is of value?
• Ethics the study of moral values conduct
• what should I do?
• what is the best for all?
• what is good conduct?
• Aesthetics searches for the principle governing
  the creation of beauty and art
• imagination creativity
• the art of nursing