Published very shortly before his death in February 1976, Meaning is the culmination of Michael Polanyi's philosophic endeavors.

What makes this work so important is that it returned the body to the forefront of philosophy for the first time since Plato.

In this book, which remained unfinished at his death, Husserl attempts to forge a union between phenomenology and existentialism.

A phenomenological study revealed that living with a long-term urinary catheter was like living with flowing water. The community dwelling sample was composed of 9 females and 5 males, ranging in age from 35--95, and they lived in urban, suburban, and rural settings. Ten participants were recruited through home care agencies and 4 through a urological practice of people with spinal cord injury . Primary data were provided by audio-taped and transcribed interviews conducted in the homes of participants, some of (...) whom were interviewed twice. Embodiment was the theoretical framework, and Merleau-Ponty's phenomenology provided the philosophical foundation. van Manen's methodology was used, combining hermeneutic dimensions to phenomenological descriptions of lived experiences. The primary nature of the experience of living with the catheter was one of a tension between acknowledgment that the catheter was a "part of me" and feelings of alienation when the catheter was experienced as a stigma or a problem. Whenever things were not going well with the catheter, the taken-for-grantedness of the catheter that was in the background would rise to the foreground. When the catheter was functioning normally, it was just a "part of me." Practical knowledge was revealed about everyday living. Participants were keenly aware of urine flowing through their catheters, saying they paid special attention to keeping urine flowing by drinking ample fluids and by keeping the catheter and drainage tubing unencumbered. Urinary tract infection was almost non-existent for the sample, generating the hypothesis that urine flow may be crucially important in preventing UTI. Pain related to the catheter was common, especially for women. For those with SCI, autonomic dysreflexia was a major problem, made worse by nurses not knowing about it. Sensitive topics were explored, such as sexuality and vulnerability. Nurses may need to introduce the topic of sexual intercourse and the catheter because their patients may hesitate to do so. Despite the stigma attached to catheters, people wearing them did not refer to them as "dirty" or as undesirable. Although most participants hid their urine bags, hiding the bag was mostly a matter of modesty, not shame. (shrink)