2. Introduction
• A chance to ask questions from the lecture
• An introduction to philosophy and argument
• How does philosophy fit with Occupational
Therapy?
• Occupation Reading task (Worksheet One: a
starting point)
4. Philosophy defined and described
Philosophy is derived from the Greek words that
mean “love of wisdom” and is concerned with
what we know and how we know it. It
attempts through careful process of analysis
and argument to answer some of the major
questions humans have been concerned with
over time.
6. Some of the sorts of questions philosophers have and
continue to address include:
• What is the meaning of life?
• How did we come to be here?
• Why do we die?
• What is truth?
• What do I know?
• How do I know it to be true?
• How did we come to be human?
• Who am I?
• What are my responsibilities to other humans?
• How free are we, really?
7. Process , content and purpose
Because many of the questions asked are about
ideas, the quality of the argument is seen as
important as the ideas being argued. This is
what Hallman (1998) refers to as the process
of philosophy being as important as the
content of philosophy. Sometimes the
questions philosophers ask are such that it is
from the strength of the argument that the
acceptability of the answer comes.
8. • Philosophy, like other humanities subjects, has
a long history of ideas and different schools of
thought within these ideas. Over time people
have built on the earlier ideas, challenged
them and made sense of or seen the world
differently as a consequence.
• These understandings or explanations of the
world can then be used to argue for and
provoke social change.
9. Process
Philosophy process includes being able to analyse an
argument, to ensure that it is logical including
whether it is valid and true. A valid argument is one if
it is such that if the premises were true, the
conclusion would have to be true.
For example
• Premise 1: All pigs are flying animals.
Premise 2: All flying animals are mammals.
Conclusion: All pigs are mammals.
10. Content
Philosophy content explores what we know and
how we know it. It queries the nature of
knowledge and acknowledges that there are
different ways of recognising the world and
ourselves in it. There are different branches of
philosophy associated (broadly) with the
nature of existence, the nature of knowledge,
and the values or decisions we make in our
lives.
11. What on earth has this got to do
with occupational therapy?
12. • For occupational therapists such questions may result in us
glazing over and feeling overwhelmed with airy fairy question
because we tend to be very practical people.
• But why do people invent things like art and music to amuse
themselves and others. What is it that is different between
the satisfaction people get from eating their home grown
food and selling object they have made? Why is it that John
gets excited by rugby and Merle gets excited by opera? These
are the sorts of questions that philosopher occupational
therapists and more recently occupational scientist have been
asking. Wilcock (1995), and others since, argue that humans
are occupational beings as much as we are social or religious
or cultural beings and that being occupied is an essential part
of what it means to be human.
14. References
Gray, J.M. (1998). Putting occupation into practice: Occupation as an ends occupation as a means. American journal of occupational therapy, 52, 354-364.
Rebeiro, K. (1998). 0ccupation-as-means to mental health: A review of literature and a call for research. Canadian Journal of Occupational Therapy, 65, 12-19.
Canadian Association of Occupational Therapists (1994). Position statement on everyday occupation and health. Canadian Journal of Occupational Therapy, 61, 294-297.
Canadian Association of Occupational Therapists (1996). Profile of occupational therapy practice in Canada. Canadian Journal of Occupational Therapy, 63, 79-113.
Canadian Association of Occupational Therapists (1997). Enabling occupation: an occupational therapy perspective. Ottawa, ON: Townsend.
Blair, S. E .E. (2000). The centrality of occupation during transition. British Journal of Occupational Therapy, 63(5), 231-237.
Molineux, M., & Whiteford, G. (1999). Prisons: From occupational deprivation to occupational enrichment. Journal of Occupational Science, 6(3), 124-130.
Townsend, E. & Wilcock, A. (2004). Occupational justice and client-centred practice: A dialogue in progress. Canadian Journal of Occupational Therapy, 71(2), 75-87.
Barnes, C. (2000). A working social model? Disability, work and disability politics in the 21st century. Critical Social Policy, 20, 441-457.
Christiansen, C. (1999). Defining lives: Occupation as identity: An essay on competence, coherence and the creation of meaning. American Journal of Occupational Therapy, 53, 547-558.
15. References continued
Nygard, L., & Borell, L. (1998). A life-world of alternating meaning: Expressions of the illness experience of dementia in everyday life over three years. Occupational Therapy Journal of Research,
18, 109-136.
Primeau, L.A. (1996). Running as an occupation, multiple meanings and purpose. In R.Z.F. Clark (Ed.). Occupational Science: the evolving discipline (p. 275-286). Philadelphia: FA. Davis.
Vrkljan, B. H., & Miller-Polgar, J. (2001). Meaning of occupational engagement in life threatening illness. A qualitative pilot project. Canadian Journal of Occupational Therapy, 68, 237-246.
Townsend, E. (1997). Inclusiveness: a community dimension of spirituality. Canadian Journal of Occupational Therapy, 64(3), 146-155.
Townsend, E. (2003). Occupational justice: Ethical, moral and civic principles for an inclusive world. Keynote presentation at the Annual Conference of the European Network of Occupational
Therapy Educators, Czech Republic, Prague, October.
Mace, J. (2008). Developing opportunities for occupational therapists in primary health organisations in New Zealand. OT Insight, 29(6), 3-5.
Wilcock, A.A. (1993). A theory of human need for occupation. Journal of Occupational Science: Australia,1, 17-24.
Wilcock, A.A. (1998). An occupational perspective on health. Thorofare, NJ: Slack
Iwama, M. (2006). The Kawa Model. China: Elsevier.
Iwama, M. (2006a). Culturally Relevant Occupational Therapy. Implications for the effective use of our therapeutic selves. Occupational Therapy Insight, 27 (2), 16-23.
16. References continued
Durie, M.H. (2004). Understanding health and illness: research at the interface between science and indigenous knowledge. International Journal of Epidemiology, 33 (5), 1138-1143.
Jungersen, K. (2002). Cultural safety: Kawa Whakaruruhau- An occupational therapy perspective. New Zealand Journal of Occupational Therapy, 49(1), 4-9.
Dunn, W., Brown, C., & McGuigan, A. (1994). The ecology of human performance: A framework for considering the effect of context. American Journal of Occupational Therapy, 48, 595-607
Law, M. (1991). The environment: A focus for occupational therapy. Canadian Journal of Occupational Therapy, 58, 171-179.
Rowles, G. (1991). Beyond performance: Being in place as a component of occupational therapy. American Journal of Occupational Therapy, 45, 265-271.
Editor's Notes
Can add Monty Python Film number one here All talk no action
Here’s where argument comes into play. Ask student what they think an argument entails. Monty Python Argument Sketch (film 2). Do I back up my conclusions with ‘premises’?, are my points clear and interrelated?, is there a common thread?
Get students thoughts here
Questions for studentsIf this is our overall conclusion how do we argue for it? Where will our evidence come from? This course and its associated assessments ask you to make these linksThis is where our course content, discussions and worksheets will come into play. If you involve yourself in these tasks and discussions you should be able to build an argument and develop your own occupational view of the world. This might be tied to premises and examples that you find enlightening or of occupational interest. Again what you put in will translate to what you get out of this course.