Living Beyond the Other

Pastoral Psychol. 2013 Aug;62(4):461-471. doi: 10.1007/s11089-012-0466-8.

Abstract

This article attempts to bring philosophy to clinical psychological practice by applying philosophical concepts to autobiographical experience. Through reflective engagement with personal narratives, the author tells three personal stories to illustrate ways in which the concept of Dasein in the philosophy of Martin Heidegger and Emmanuel Levinas's development of an ethical responsibility to the Other, in tandem with thanatology, helped the author come to terms with existential dilemmas evoked by the deaths of others.

Keywords: Death; Heidegger; Hospice; Levinas; Personal narrative; Psychology.