Search Results (766)

For rural adolescent girls in the Bolivian Andes, adolescence is not a “protected” transitional life stage but a gendered laboring condition. This article explores the lived experiences of adolescent girls in a rural Quechua community in Cochabamba, drawing on the initial phase of a longitudinal Community-Based Participatory Research (CBPR) project (2023–2024). By integrating Silvia Federici’s theory of social reproduction with Axel Honneth’s recognition theory, the study conceptualizes a “laboring subjectivity” defined by a ch’ixi reality where two dimensions of labor exist in constant, dynamic interaction. The findings reveal these dimensions of labor: “Working to Do,” which encompasses the invisible, naturalized reproductive and agricultural work and unremunerated affective work required to sustain family life as a form of cultural pedagogy; and “Working to Be,” which refers to the subjective labor girls perform to negotiate recognition. Through this structural arrangement, Honneth’s spheres of love, rights, and social esteem are systematically compromised, creating a distinct recognition deficit as girls carry adult responsibilities without structural protection. Ultimately, this article argues that seasonal migration to regions such as El Trópico functions as an existential terrain where girls seek the symbolic and economic recognition denied within the local rural order. By centering adolescent girls as active laboring subjects, the research challenges Western developmental biases in youth studies and offers a nuanced reframing of the nexus between labor, mobility, and identity formation in the Global South. Full article

This paper develops an original philosophical anthropological account of hope, arguing that hope is the essence of freedom—the inner propulsive principle without which freedom cannot move or sustain itself. Three levels of hope are distinguished. Ontological hope is the invariable, pre-reflective orientation of the human being toward the possibility of adequate response to the demand of ontological emptiness—the raison d’être of freedom itself, and the central contribution of this paper. Fundamental hope is its variable existential actualisation—the dispositional, non-object-directed orientation that emerges from the human being’s encounter with the totality of reality and is carried by the spiritual unconscious. Fragmental hope is the most variable and most familiar mode—the hope directed at particular, temporary needs and solutions. It is ontological hope—invariable, constitutive, and prior to every conscious act of hoping—that is the essence of freedom: the phenomenon that opens the space of ontological emptiness and gives freedom access to the demand of the latter, making its exercise possible at all. The paper further introduces and analyses three original concepts: certainty-mania—the obsessive quest for certainty that severs consciousness from the unconscious and from the fundamental hope it carries—showing that the loss of hope is always rooted in fear and the compulsive need for predictability; the distinction between anticipating joy (Freude-auf) and existential joy (erlebte Freude), arguing that pre-emptive certainty eliminates the tension that genuine hoping requires and thereby empties the present of its capacity to fulfil; and an original etymological and phenomenological analysis of disappointment as Enttäuschung—disillusionment, the medicinal return from illusion to reality. The paper situates its account in relation to Marcel’s ontological hope and Moltmann’s eschatological hope, and engages Frankl, Marcel, Moltmann, Fromm, Heidegger, Camus, Kierkegaard, Tillich, and Blondel as principal interlocutors. Full article

Background/Objectives: Spiritual care is a core component of holistic paediatric palliative care, yet nurses often feel insufficiently prepared to address the spiritual and existential needs of seriously ill children and their families. This systematic review aimed to explore nurses’ experiences of providing spiritual care to seriously ill and dying children in paediatric palliative care settings and to identify the factors that facilitate or hinder its provision. Methods: A systematic review was conducted in accordance with PRISMA 2020. CINAHL, PubMed, Web of Science and SAGE were searched for English-language qualitative, quantitative and mixed-methods studies published up to November 2025. Study quality was assessed using JBI critical appraisal checklists, and the findings were synthesised thematically following Thomas and Harden. Results: A total of 228 records were identified, of which ten studies met the predefined inclusion criteria. The thematic synthesis identified one overarching theme—nurses’ engagement with spirituality while caring for seriously ill and dying children—supported by two sub-themes: managing emotional responses and maintaining professional, family-centred support. Conclusions: Nurses recognise spiritual care as essential in paediatric palliative care but often lack the competence and institutional support to provide it consistently. Education should prioritise spiritual assessment, developmentally appropriate communication, ethical boundaries, reflective practice and structured debriefing. Full article

Nighttime destinations, characterized by distinctive lighting, atmosphere, and activities, provide rich cognitive stimuli for university students. However, university students’ cognition regarding authenticity within such settings remains underexplored. Grounded in psychological empowerment theory, and the cognition–affect–conation framework, this study investigates how university students’ perceptions of objective and existential authenticity (i.e., intrapersonal and interpersonal) in a nighttime destination coincide with the meaning of nighttime destination and subsequent critical reflection. It further investigates the moderating role of nocturnal escapism between the meaning of nighttime destination and critical reflection. Using survey data from 764 university students at the “City of Sleepless in the Song Dynasty,” this research employs Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM) and fuzzy-set Qualitative Comparative Analysis (fsQCA). The results indicate that intrapersonal authenticity shows the strongest association with the meaning of nighttime destination and critical reflection. The fsQCA reveals four distinct configurations consistently associated with high critical reflection, highlighting configurational complexity. This study offers insights into university students’ cognition of nighttime destination authenticity and discusses perceived experiential qualities that may coincide with critical reflection. Full article

Background: While the consumer experience of psychosis has received significant attention in Western research, a substantial gap exists regarding the experiences of women in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA). In this context, religious, cultural, familial, and gender-specific factors uniquely shape the experience of psychosis, help-seeking behaviors, and recovery. This study aimed to explore the lived experiences of Saudi women with psychosis across three phases: first-episode onset, hospitalization or follow-up, and community living after discharge. Methods: This hermeneutic phenomenological study, guided by van Manen’s methodology, employed all six lifeworld existentials: lived space, lived body, lived time, lived self-other, lived thing, and lived cyborg. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 21 women diagnosed with psychosis at two hospitals in Riyadh, KSA. Data collection included 13 audio-recorded interviews and eight documented via field notes, supplemented by creative methods such as drawings, poems, and written texts analyzed using van Manen’s vocative method. All Arabic data were professionally translated and verified for accuracy. Results: Three overarching themes emerged. First, women’s lived experiences of first-episode psychosis highlighted the process of understanding causes and developing insight during onset. Second, experiences during admission and follow-up revealed the impact of clinical encounters, nursing care, and the critical need for therapeutic healing spaces. Third, living with psychosis in the community emphasized the complexities of medication adherence, family dynamics, and the pursuit of recovery through education, employment, and religious practice. Conclusions: The participants articulated user-based recovery perspectives, including empowerment, shared decision-making, and hope, which contrasted sharply with the service-based approaches they received. Culturally specific stressors and pervasive stigma shaped every phase of their journey. To the authors’ knowledge, no prior study has examined this population using a hermeneutic phenomenological framework; these findings provide a women-focused, culturally situated evidence base for developing gender-specific recovery models and enhanced discharge planning within the KSA mental health system. Full article

The article examines water as a symbolic and existential medium in contemporary art. Water, present in culture since the earliest times, constitutes both a fundamental condition of life and one of the most enduring archetypes of human imagination. The analysis is conducted from two theoretical perspectives: phenomenological, focusing on the embodied experience, and symbolic, presenting the cultural and spiritual meanings attributed to water, as well as contemporary concepts examining its role in relational and site-specific art. Particular attention is devoted to the analysis of selected case studies in which water serves as a medium for transformation, introspection, and boundary. The findings indicate that in contemporary art, water functions as a multidimensional medium, engaging all the viewer’s senses and eliciting profound aesthetic and existential experiences. At the same time, its use reveals tensions between the authentic message and the risk of greenwashing, or over-technologization. The article emphasizes that the combination of symbolic depth with a responsible approach is crucial for the credibility of water as an artistic medium. Full article

How can chaplaincy respond to the existential concerns of people who face climate change in their daily life as activists? We address this question by researching a chaplain-led intervention in the Netherlands called the “Climate Sanctuary”, based on The Work That Reconnects. The study comprised a mixed-methods pre- and post-survey. Seventy-three participants took part in the study. Before the intervention, participants indicated that they were mostly concerned about the effects of, and the lack of urgency in taking measures against, climate change. This was accompanied by emotions of anger/outrage, powerlessness, despair, grief and anxiety. After the intervention, participants mentioned that the Climate Sanctuary provided them with sources of strength. Moreover, they were better able to deal with their emotions: there was a statistically significant decrease in anger/outrage (Z = −2.012, p = 0.044), powerlessness (Z = −2.247, p = 0.025) and insecurity (Z = −2.044, p = 0.041). Thirdly, they found peers and, fourthly, time for reflection. The results show that chaplains can play a role regarding climate change in providing a sanctuary for people in which they are acknowledged in their suffering and can explore and deepen their relationship with a climate-changed world, build community and experience renewed hope as the ability to go on. Full article

Background/Objectives: Heart failure (HF) is a highly unpredictable disease that significantly impacts patients’ well-being. One of the fundamental problems faced by cardiac patients is trying to answer the question of how to lead a meaningful life. Meaning in life is a crucial predictor of well-being, ill-being and quality of life for everyone, not just cardiac patients. Therefore, identifying its predictors is crucial. Based on Leventhal et al.’s common-sense model of self-regulation of health and illness, and Lipowski’s disease perception concept, this study verified the role of illness perception and perceived stress in existential meaning in Polish HF patients. Methods: This manuscript presents the results of a cross-sectional study. Overall, 336 HF patients from Poland were examined. Four questionnaires were used: the Meaning in Life Questionnaire (MLQ), the Multidimensional Existential Meaning Scale (MEMS), the Perceived Stress Scale (PSS-10) and the Disease-Related Appraisals Scale (DRAS). Results: Negative illness perception and positive cognitive assessment of the illness were shown to be significant predictors of meaning in life in patients with HF. Furthermore, this relationship was mediated by perceived stress. Additionally, the positive correlation between negative illness assessment and positive illness perception was found. Conclusions: This study demonstrates that cognitive assessment of the disease can be associated with the existential resources of heart failure patients. It also highlights the importance of working on the existential sphere of cardiac patients and accurately verified theoretical assumptions regarding the relationship between illness perception and meaning in life, providing a basis for future longitudinal studies and meaning-oriented psychological help focused on individuals with HF. Full article

This essay offers a critical reading of Karen Barad’s and Heinrich Päs’ interpretations of quantum mechanics, using a Categorial Differentiation approach to science and religion, which is inspired by Wittgenstein and van Fraassen. Barad and Päs are ontological realists, but their philosophies of quantum mechanics depart from what I call scientistic realist interpretations of quantum mechanics, which are mainstream in the analytic philosophy of physics. After an overview of the ontological turn in the philosophy of quantum mechanics and explaining the basic difference between scientistic and existential kinds of realism, I examine the central features of Barad’s agential realism and Päs’ quantum monism. The Categorial Differentiation approach, which offers a normative perspective on the relationship between science and religion, is introduced, and its relevance for the philosophy (and theology) of quantum mechanics is explained. I conclude the essay with a critical analysis of Barad’s and Päs’ interpretations from this Wittgensteinian perspective, focusing on the ways in which they relate the science of quantum mechanics with their respective existential–moral visions. Full article

An abrupt-sunlight-reduction scenario combined with a catastrophic collapse of electricity/industry has the potential to disrupt food production and distribution worldwide, creating widespread food insecurity. This paper explores the potential of animal draught power to cultivate current cropland and expand cropland area in each country with winter wheat during an abrupt-sunlight-reduction scenario with global collapse of industry. For a 150 tera-gram soot injection with no fertiliser application, the country-level allocation of draught animals allows for the global cultivation of over 700 million hectares (Mha) of current cropland, and expansion of global cropland area by 120 Mha, mostly focused in tropical regions of the globe. Over the course of seven years, over 8.3 billion tons of wheat are produced globally, 25% of which is fed to working animals, while the remaining surplus is used to meet human calorie demand. Although enough wheat is eventually produced to meet 80% of the human global calorie demand, animal demand and trade collapse only makes it possible to meet 30% of the global calorie demand. This presents outdoor agriculture and cropland expansion as viable and sustainable methods to mitigate starvation and prevent animal extinction in a catastrophe in some select countries. Full article

Background/Objectives: Loneliness is a major public health concern in later life and may be especially prevalent among older adults living in nursing homes. Evidence from Spain remains limited regarding modifiable correlates of different loneliness dimensions. This study aimed to describe social and existential loneliness among nursing home residents and examine their associations with sociodemographic, institutional, functional, and psychosocial factors. Methods: We conducted a cross-sectional study in Spanish nursing homes using face-to-face structured interviews with residents aged ≥65 years (n = 139). Social loneliness was assessed with the ESTE-II scale and existential loneliness with the existential loneliness subscale of the ESTE-R. Functional dependence was measured with the Barthel Index. Health literacy, locus of control, institutional variables, and suicidality-related items were also collected. Spearman correlations and multiple linear regression models with BCa bootstrapped 95% confidence intervals (5000 resamples) were used. Results: Social and existential loneliness were moderately correlated (ρ = 0.481, p < 0.001). Greater activity engagement was independently associated with lower social (B = −1.105, p < 0.001) and existential loneliness (B = −0.732, p = 0.029). Receiving visits regularly was associated with lower social loneliness (B = −4.083, p = 0.002), but not existential loneliness. Greater functional independence was associated with lower existential loneliness (B = −0.044, p = 0.023). Conclusions: Activity engagement was a consistent correlate across loneliness dimensions, whereas regular visits were mainly related to social loneliness and functional independence to existential loneliness. These findings support feasible long-term care strategies focused on meaningful activities, relational contact, and functional support. Full article

Background: A subgroup of adolescent and young adult patients (AYAs; 18 to 39 years at diagnosis) face an uncertain or poor cancer prognosis (UPCP). Previous qualitative research identified dual coping pathways in this population: engagement in life versus the reality of premature death. This study examines whether similar psychosocial profiles can be identified through quantitative data, aiming to differentiate patient experiences and identify characteristic features of each cluster. Additionally, this study examines the association between cluster membership and social support needs to understand psychosocial disparities. Methods: Eligible participants completed questionnaires assessing physical, psychosocial, and existential outcomes related to their disease and prognosis. An ensemble clustering approach was applied, including evaluation of clustering tendency and multiple algorithms, with stable clusters identified through majority voting. Associations with social support needs were analyzed using Fisher’s exact test. Results: Data from 155 AYAs with a UPCP were included. The mean age at diagnosis was 31.2 years, with glioma (34.8%) and breast cancer (17.4%) as the most common diagnoses. Two distinct clusters were identified: one (22%) characterized by poorer functional outcomes and fewer protective factors (e.g., hope, meaning in life), and another cluster (78%) with better functioning and less frequent needs for social support (p < 0.00043). Conclusions: Findings revealed divergent psychosocial profiles within the AYA-UPCP population, highlighting the importance of early identification of vulnerable subgroups. Strengthening protective factors may enhance resilience and reduce unmet support needs. Validation in larger, external datasets is needed to confirm these pathways and guide tailored supportive care strategies. Full article

This article addresses the problem of the truth of religion from a personalist perspective, moving beyond classical propositional conceptions of truth. The starting point is the claim that, in Christianity, truth has a personal character and is fulfilled in the person of Jesus Christ, which leads to a shift from truth understood as the correspondence of judgment and reality to truthfulness as the existential integrity of the human person. Methodologically, the study is located at the intersection of fundamental and systematic theology. It employs conceptual analysis, theological hermeneutics, and systematic argumentation in order to reconstruct, from within Christian personalism, a criterion of religious truthfulness. It is argued that the truth of religion cannot be reduced to doctrinal coherence, but is manifested in the degree to which religion fosters personal integration, relational capacity, and participation in communion. Particular attention is given to the role of the liturgy, especially the Eucharist, understood as a space of personal integration and transformation, in which the human person is drawn into relationship with God and the ecclesial community. The analysis further suggests that this criterion may have heuristic value in comparative theology, provided that the distinction between Christian claims to fullness and analogical participation in truthfulness is carefully maintained. In conclusion, a religion is true insofar as it makes the human person true, that is, integrated, relational, and capable of participation in communion. Such truthfulness has an ontological and personalist character, rather than being merely functional or pragmatic. Full article

Ecological degradation is accelerating worldwide, yet the losses of species, ecosystems, and landscapes often remain socially and culturally unmourned. This article explores how contemplative ecology may offer a pathway for engaging with ecological grief. Drawing on the case study of Lab Landschapspijn Veluwe in the Netherlands, it examines how contemplative practices—such as contemplative dialogue and contemplative walking—can help participants attune to ecological loss in degraded landscapes. Using heuristic inquiry and interpretative phenomenological analysis, the study investigates how participants perceive and articulate tangible ecological losses and their emotional, moral, and spiritual dimensions. The findings show that contemplative practices can function as forms of contemplative witnessing, making ecological loss more perceptible, grievable, emotionally acknowledged, and relationally processed. Contemplative practices may foster an open-ended engagement with ecological loss; an orientation that allows grief, wonder, uncertainty, and care to coexist without demanding immediate resolution. Therefore, contemplative ecology may cultivate the emotional, existential and relational capacities required to remain engaged with ecological crisis. Full article

This paper investigates whether transcendent worldviews—those oriented toward a beyond—decline while immanent worldviews—those oriented toward this world—increase. We draw on an inventory spanning positions from theism and deism to naturalism and existentialism, administered seven times in West Germany (1982–2023) and six times in East Germany (1992–2023). In West Germany, existentialist worldviews ranked first, followed by naturalist, theist, and deist ones. While existentialist worldviews remained stable, transcendent worldviews declined and immanent ones grew, producing a substantial and growing advantage for immanent over transcendent orientations. In East Germany, existentialist and naturalist worldviews were markedly dominant, well above transcendent ones throughout the observation period. Both remained stable, while transcendent worldviews increased only minimally, leaving the gap largely intact. To test whether these period effects persist under controls, we employ OLS regressions with robust standard errors, accounting for cohort, age, church attendance and belonging, community size, parenthood, work engagement, education, and gender. In West Germany, transcendent worldviews declined and immanent ones increased non-monotonically. In East Germany, the pattern reversed: transcendent worldviews increased and immanent ones decreased non-monotonically. While mean levels do not differ significantly between the two regions, the direction and structure of effects do. The discussion addresses why transcendent worldviews are better explained than immanent ones, and what accounts for the divergent trajectories between East and West Germany. Full article