Page 143 - Nursing: The Philosophy and Science of Caring

F r o m ca ra t i v e F a c t o r 6 t o C a r it a s P roC e s s 6
expanded views of science, and the dissonance among humanistic val-
ues, heartfelt values and insights, and some technical-scientific practice
demands. Conventional science is thought to be value-neutral; Caring
Science is value-laden, philosophically grounded in values of relation-
ship, context, meaning, and subjective views of reality—acknowledg-
ing, but not limited to, empirical-objective physical phenomena alone.
Indeed, as Parker Palmer (1987:20) explained, it is “in our modes of
knowing that we shape souls by the shape of our knowledge.” A
renowned educator and transformer of educative minds, Palmer also
pointed out that “epistemology is ethic.” Knowledge carries ethical,
moral shapes that inform and guide our actions; our ways of knowing
inform or deform the human soul, according to Palmer.
However, the critique and use of a conventional, objectivist method
of knowing and problem solving do not necessarily preclude other
domains of knowledge. They are integrated into a new whole, result-
ing in what draws upon noetic knowledge. This evolved approach could
be considered Caritas Praxis, practice informed by all ways of know-
ing, being, doing; informed by one’s values, ethics, theories, clinical
judgment, moral ideals, and so on, as part of the complex dynamics
of human relationships and decision making in critical life events and
circumstances.
A Caritas Process within an expanded model of science, as dis-
cussed, critiques limited views of knowledge and asks new ontologi-
cal, moral, and epistemological questions as to what counts as knowl-
edge. Caritas Consciousness and Practices allow for a noetic* context for
science, one not limited to conventional scientific-physical phenom-
ena alone (Watson 2002a).

* Noetic comes from the Greek nous, which refers to mind or direct ways
of knowing. Noetic sciences seek to further explore conventional science
in aspects of reality such as mind, consciousness, intentionality, and even
spirit, which includes aspects of reality that transcend physical phenom-
ena (Harman 1998; Schlitz, Taylor, and Lewis 1998; Harman 1998; Watson
2002a). Thus, a noetic science context would consider Caring/Caritas and
the subjective-intersubjective world of inner experiences to be legitimate,
especially with respect to moral and ontological inquiry.

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