Urvilja : när livet är människans hem

This caring science study explores ‘Will’ as an ontological concept. The aim is to deepen the understanding of the essence of Will, and to highlight the manifestations of Will and how Will becomes evident in clinical caring. Will is ontological and universal. Will is connected with the essence of the human being, and manifests in the human being as will. The approach is inspired by Gadamer’s philosophical hermeneutics. The study’s horizon of understanding consists of Eriksson’s caritative theory and the caring science-tradition. The study’s research questions are as follows: What is the essence of Will? What are its manifestations? How does Will become evident in clinical caring? The hermeneutic interpretative movement is initiated by the material, which consists of the philosopher Arthur Schopenhauer’s texts, letters from experts and dictionaries. Meaning-bearing substance fragments in the material are intertwined with the original horizon of understanding through hermeneutical reading, hermeneutical interpretation and concept analysis in an oscillating interpretive movement. An abstraction occurs when the new substance is illuminated by the caring science ontology. The oscillating interpretive movement results in a reinterpreted horizon of understanding, which in turn provides the findings of the study. The reinterpreted horizon of understanding is presented in the form of a theoretical model and abductive theses. The essence of Will is represented in the theoretical model as the lifeaffirming and the loving force. Life and love are Will’s origin and destination. Will’s manifestations (its diversity) hold conditions and chance occurrences that obstruct Will. Hence the will of the human being does not necessarily appear in a way that is in tune with ontological Will. Will represents the lifeblood of ethos, and in this lifeblood love flows. Will acts by virtue of itself, and gives ethos its force. Will manifests in a way that ethos can affirm. When Will is affected by caring its force is active in the service of life and love. Being a caregiver entails acting as a world-eye, which means recognizing Will in diversity. For caregivers, being a world-eye means observing fragments of Will as it manifests in its original form in the real reality, and acting as the mirror of life. The human being who is able to perceive the fundamental values of life and to live according to these has understood the laws of life and entered upon the human calling. The human being then lives according to the fundamental order and has found a home in life.

"Vi hava nu lykligt kommit hit i Norrland" : en gårdfarihandlarfamiljs handelsverksamhet och gårdshushåll i Månsta by, Älvdalens socken åren1865 -1886

Syftet med denna uppsats är att undersöka hur gårdfarihandlarfamiljen på Tommosgården i Älvdalens socken i norra Dalarna organiserade sin handelsverksamhet och sitt gårdshushåll under 1800-talets andra hälft. Ett särskilt fokus riktas mot de hemmavarande kvinnornas roll i verksamhet och hushåll. Undersökningen baseras på en familjebrevväxling, skriven mellan åren 1865-1886. Gårdfarihandeln var då en historiskt och traditionellt förankrad, populär utkomstmöjlighet för många älvdalsbor. Tommosfamiljen organiserade sin rörliga och fasta handelsverksamhet och sitt gårdsliv med jord- och skogsbruk i en familjedriven rörelse beroende av de hemmavarande kvinnorna. Männen ägnade sig åt handel långa perioder årligen då deras hustrur skötte gårdshushållet. Männen engagerade sig i arbetet på gården via brevväxlingen. Familjerörelsen organiserades med hjälp av en fungerande postgång. Den väl inarbetade genusarbetsdelningen i gårdshushållet var en konsekvens av familjens rörliga handelsverksamhet och verkar förändras mellan generationer