AshehougAgency

Science and Communication

Full title: Science and Communication. Paradigms, models and communication strategies for the theory of science in healthcare

Healthcare is facing enormous challenges due to the increased number of people being turned into "clients" with no one being able to determine precisely what is ailing them. As a consequence, healthcare is increasingly forced to reflect on its own policy and practice. Nerheim seeks, in particular, to give topical interest to the problems related to the theory of science, elucidated through examples drawn from medicine and healthcare. The intention is to reflect not only on the problems related to the methodology of the natural sciences, but also on central areas of the humanities and the very foundation of the social sciences - the hermeneutics.

Her presentation moves forward in stages from the context of sciences via a discussion of hermeneutics, ending with the development of alternative models as regards the relationship between "The Other" in care, through focusing on meaning as the premise for the type of action that we call "communication."

Nerheim presents a very scholarly account of thinkers such as Carnap, Hempel, Wittgenstein, Popper, Kuhn, Heidegger, Habermas and Ricoeur. However, Nerheim is not content to confine herself to the theorists; by linking their theories to the story of "Tone", a person subjected to the logic of a well developed modern system of care, she takes the discussion one step further. "The Case of Tone" illustrates the central theses of the book; the basis of understanding and contextually relevant knowledge present in hermeneutics must provide the foundation for a meaningful use of medicine even though it cannot replace knowledge gained from laboratory work.

First published: 1996, Universitetsforlaget

Translations: German ( Hans Huber Verlag)
English sample translation available from Aschehoug Agency.

Hjördis Nerheim: Biography and bibliography