Personal Philosophy and Disciplinary Perspective of Nursing

Inhaltsangabe oder Einleitung

Gaining more experience and knowledge in philosophy, nursing philosophy, and the nursing paradigm has helped me to know more about myself, as a human being and as a nurse. In the process of reading, I find it hard to commit to one point of view or one perspective; however, now I clearly see where I fit. My philosophical perspective in general, and in nursing specifically, are heavily influenced by the empiricism and positivism perspective and ultimately aligns with the totality nursing paradigm.

From my ontological perspective in general, I believe in objectivism: that there is a single truth and there is a single reality. I believe that we as human beings are always in interaction with the external reality which is the “environment.” I believe that the environment is everything surrounding us, and we as human beings interact with and influence the environment, and the environment interacts with and influences us in turn. In other words, if someone follows a certain action, he/she will be able to predict what the outcomes will be. To illustrate, if I throw a ball up in the air, I expect that it will hit the ground. Another example could be if I follow a specific diet and a specific exercise to lose weight, then the result will be what I expected, which is weight loss unless there are some other contributing factors.

From my epistemological standpoint, I believe that reality can be captured by senses and can be predicted by experience. I believe that there is no knowledge without experience. To illustrate, if someone says an apple is red, I can’t imagine what the apple looks like if I have never seen a red one before. How can one know what something tastes like if they have never tasted it? Experience is anything that came across our mind at any certain time in the past. I also believe that knowledge can be gained through reasoning. According to wisdom in my culture, “The reason is known, the surprise is blown.” In other words, knowledge needs clarifications and explanation, so only reasoning can transform sensory data into something meaningful and understandable.