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CHAPTER 11 Katie Eriksson 173

at the annual caring science symposia in Helsinki, Award in Finland; in 1987, she received the Sophie
Finland. In many public dialogues with Kari Martinsen Mannerheim Medal of the Swedish Nursing Associa-
from Norway, Eriksson has discussed basic questions tion in Finland; and in 1998, she received the Caring
about caring and caring science. Some dialogues Science Gold Mark for academic nursing care at
have been published (Martinsen, 1996; Martinsen & Helsinki University Central Hospital. Also in 1998,
Eriksson, 2009). she received an Honorary Doctorate in Public Health
Eriksson worked as a leader of many symposia: the from the Nordic School of Public Health in Gothenburg,
1975 Nordic Symposium about the Nursing Care Pro- Sweden. Other awards include the 2001 Åland Islands
cess (the first Nordic Nursing Care Science Symposium Medal for caring science and the 2003 Topelius Medal,
in Finland); the 1982 Symposium in Basic Research in instituted by Åbo Akademi University for excellent
Nursing Care Science; the 1985 Nordic Symposium in research. In 2003, she was honored nationally as a
Nursing Care Science; the 1989 Nordic Humanistic Knight, First Class, of the Order of the White Rose of
Caring Symposium; the 1991 Nordic Caring Science Finland.
Conference, “Caritas & Passio in Vaasa, Finland”; and
the 1993 Nordic Caring Science Conference, “To Care
or Not to Care—The Key Question” in Nursing in Theoretical Sources
Vaasa, Finland. Ever since the mid 1970s, Eriksson’s leading thoughts
Eriksson’s caritative theory of caring came into have been not only to develop the substance of caring,
clearer focus internationally in 1997, when the IAHC but also to develop caring science as an independent
for the first time arranged its conference in a European discipline (Eriksson, 1988). From the beginning,
country. The Department of Caring Science served as Eriksson wanted to go back to the Greek classics by
the host of this conference, which was arranged in Plato, Socrates, and Aristotle, from whom she found
Helsinki, Finland, with the topic, “Human Caring: The her inspiration for the development of both the sub-
Primacy of Love and Existential Suffering.” stance and the discipline of caring science (Eriksson,
Eriksson is a member of several editorial committees 1987a). From her basic idea of caring science as a
for international journals in nursing and caring science. humanistic science, she developed a meta-theory
She has been invited to many universities in Finland that she refers to as “the theory of science for caring
and other Nordic countries as a faculty opponent for science” (Eriksson, 1988, 2001).
doctoral students and an expert consultant in her field. When developing caring science as an academic
She is an advisor for her own research students and for discipline, Eriksson’s most important sources of inspira-
research students at Kuopio and Helsinki Universities, tion besides Plato and Aristotle were Swedish theolo-
where she is an associate professor (docent). Eriksson gian Anders Nygren (1972) and Hans-Georg Gadamer
served as chairperson of the Nordic Academy of Caring (1960/1994). Nygren and later Tage Kurtén (1987) pro-
Science from 1999 to 2002. vided her with support for her division of caring science
Eriksson has produced an extensive list of text- into systematic and clinical caring science. Eriksson
books, scientific reports, professional journal articles, introduces Nygren’s concepts of motive research, con-
and short papers. Her publications started in the text of meaning, and basic motive, which give the disci-
1970s and include about 400 titles. Some of her pub- pline structure. The aim of motive research is to find the
lications have been translated into other languages, essential context, the leading idea of caring. The idea of
mainly into Finnish. Vårdandets Idé [The Idea of Car- motive research applied to caring science is to show the
ing] has been published in Braille. Her first English characteristics of caring (Eriksson, 1992c).
translation, The Suffering Human Being [Den Lidande The basic motive in caring science and caring for
Människan], was published in 2006 by Nordic Studies Eriksson is caritas, which constitutes the leading idea
Press in Chicago. and keeps the various elements together. It gives both
Eriksson has received many awards and honors for the substance and the discipline of caring science a
her professional and academic accomplishments. In distinctive character. In development of the basic
1975, she was nominated to receive the 3M-ICN motive, St. Augustine (1957) and Søren Kierkegaard
(International Council of Nurses) Nursing Fellowship (1843/1943) became important sources. In further