Antonio Barbosa da Silva

• Professor of Sytematic Theology and Health Care Ethics
• Professor Emeritus at Ansgar University College and Theological Seminary, Kristiansand, Norway

Chapter 7: Spirituality, Existence and Mental Health Tiburtius Koslander & António Barbosa da Silva. Mental illness and disease often actualize spiritual-existential questions in a person’s life. Why have I been affected? Does this suffering have any meaning? These and similar questions are closely related to man’s spiritual-existential needs. If...

There is an increasing amount of Anglo-Saxon literature focusing on the need to advance nursing as a scientific discipline. The aim of this article is to illuminate some issues relevant to delimiting the domain and methodology of nursing science with a special reference to the situation in Sweden. Against the background of nursing emerging as a pro...

I was born on Fogo, in the Cape Verde islands. I attended primary school there and pursued my secondary and college education in Praia (the capital of Cape Verde), in Portugal (Oeiras) and in Angola. I completed my further academic studies in Portugal, Norway and Sweden. I am a BA and MA Theol. and obtained my Dr Theol. from The University of Uppsa...

Abstract This compendium is used as a textbook in philosophy of sciences for Master Thesis in Practical Theology at Ansgar University College and Theological Seminary, Kristian-sand, Norway. It introduces the philosophy of natural sciences, social sciences and the humanities. It deals primarily with different views of reality (ontologies), differen...

Psychiatric nurse Kathrine Benedikte Larsen's personal views on patients with dissociative disorders are given free rein in the journal Sykepleien. Was it a wise choice of the journal? ask the article authors. Larsen’s article is recently published under the tab «Professional development». Here she hammers away at patients and attributes to them mo...

The path to good mental health is varied and there are many factors that must interact with each other to achieve this goal. The spiritual needs are clear in psychiatric care and must not be neglected. Today's science-oriented care and the secularized society may have led to the subject of spiritual needs becoming sensitive and difficult to access,...

This article attempts to answer the following question: how significant is theological normativity for church development practice. At a time when many leaders are busy developing local churches ac cording to secular organizational models and experiences, this question always arises: to what extent does the normative character of the Bible impact C...

The aim of this paper is to analyse the relationship between social constructionism and qualitative approach. Based on the fundamental assumptions of social constructionism, we argue that scientific inquiries that adopt constructivism as its theoretical conceptual framework must use qualitative methods to collect data and to analyse the collected d...

This article attempts to answer the following question: how significant is theological normativity for church development practice? At a time when many leaders are busy developing local churches according to secular organisational theories, models and experiences, the following question arises: to what extent does the normative character of the Bib...

The question we want to answer in this article is partly: In what way does relativism in Western culture and our own contemporary culture challenge the Church in terms of its mission to convey the gospel into our own time and in relation to church development thinking and practice today? To answer his question, we have first analysed the concepts o...

The main purpose of this study is to analyze primarily the character and theological implications of the reduction of one religion to another. The question about the relativization is also touched upon in my attempt to prove the main thesis of this study. My main thesis is: There is a new imbalance in Jewish-Christian relations (JCD), reflected in...

Abortion views in light of different views of life, human views and ethics perspectives - a moral-philosophical analysis The book has three chapters. In the first chapter, the abortion question is analyzed in the light of classical humanistic and classical-Christian humanistic views of human beings from a non-gradable human being perspective. In th...

Abstract GPs serve in a double role of treatment provider and expert in certain social insurance systems, such as the Norwegian one. Some physicians assert that the ethical obligations of the two roles conflict with each other. The objective of this article is to show that social insurance medical ethics (SIME), which are based on recognized princ...

GPs serve in a double role of treatment provider and expert in certain social insurance systems, such as the Norwegian one. Some physicians assert that the ethical obligations of the two roles conflict with each other. The objective of this article is to show that social insurance medical ethics (SIME), which are based on recognised principles of m...

Mental illness and disease often raise spiritual or existential issues in a person's life. Questions such as "Why just me?", and "Does this make any sense?", are raised, and the path to health is largely about seeking answers to these and similar questions that are closely related to human spiritual needs. Based on an understanding of recovery as a...

Mental illness and disease often raise spiritual or existential issues in a person's life. Questions such as "Why just me?", and "Does this make any sense?", are raised, and the path to health is largely about seeking answers to these and similar questions that are closely related to human spiritual needs. Based on an understanding of recovery as a...

Abstract First, the book contributes with knowledge and emphasizes attitude which can promote and strength respect for the patient’s dignity and integrity as well as health care and social work. Second, it shows how the concepts of health and care and central ethical terms should be understood and applied so that they can be coherent with the ethic...

‘Objective finding’ is the traditional medical criterion for objectivity. In many cases in social insurance medicine, however, no objective findings are present. An issue, therefore, arises about additional criteria of objectivity that also could supplement objective findings regarding embodied subjects. We reviewed concepts of objectivity and subj...

The aim of this study was to develop a model for moral decision making in general and in clinical nursing supervision in particular. The model was built on aspects of the theories of the moral philosophers: Harald Ofstad, Richard Hare and Carol Gillian. The analysis highlights the supervisor´s willingness to listen and to interpret and a distinctio...

Clinical nursing supervision enables supervisees to reflect on ethically difficult caring situations, thereby strengthening their professional identity, integrating nursing theory and practice, and leading to the development of ethical competence. The aim of this study was to develop an understanding of the core ethical issues of clinical nursing s...

AIM: The aim of this study was to highlight community nurses' experiences of ethical dilemmas in palliative care. BACKGROUND: There are many studies on palliative care but research on how community nurses experience ethical dilemmas in palliative home care is lacking. The ethical dilemmas to which these nurses are exposed seriously challenge their...

The aim of this study was to highlight community nurses' experiences of ethical dilemmas in palliative care. There are many studies on palliative care but research on how community nurses experience ethical dilemmas in palliative home care is lacking. The ethical dilemmas to which these nurses are exposed seriously challenge their ethical competenc...

AIM: To gain a deeper understanding of community nurses' experiences of ethical problems in end-of-life care in the patient's own home. METHOD: Ten female nurses from five different communities with experience of end-of-life care were interviewed. A hermeneutic approach inspired by Gadamer was used to analyse the qualitative data from the inte...

AIM: The aim of this study was to highlight community nurses' experiences of ethical dilemmas in palliative care. BACKGROUND: There are many studies on palliative care but research on how community nurses experience ethical dilemmas in palliative home care is lacking. The ethical dilemmas to which these nurses are exposed seriously challenge t...

As the title indicates, the article gives a concise history of the relationship between Christian and Jews throughout the Western History (from early Christianity until today). Until the World War II, there was a disputation between believing Jews and Christians, the purpose of which was to show who was wrong: Jews or Christian. Disputation was mot...

In the article I argue that my Christian faith, a specific commitment, should not be allowed to undermine the ideal and common ground of the Jewish-Christian-Muslim inter-religious dialogue.

The purpose of the article ids to stimulate a critical and constructive debate among physical therapists about certain philosophical and theoretical preconditions (e.g., ontological and epistemological ones) for the development of relevant research in the field of physical therapy, independently of whether the goal is to serve the praxis of physica...

Abstract: Scand J Caring Sci; 2012 The human being's spiritual experiences in a mental healthcare context; their positive and negative meaning and impact on health - a hermeneutic approach The study aims at describing different meanings of patients' spiritual experiences and their impact on patients' health in mental healthcare. The different conte...

There are few studies that focus on the interpersonal aspect of everyday ethical conflicts. Conceptual frameworks for research into ethical decision making in the health care system are mainly based on an ethic in which objectivity and principle-based thinking is emphasized, leaving the experience of concrete moral conflicts relatively unexplored....

The chapter discusses three main approaches to Christian mission and inter-religious dialogue, with special reference to a dialogue between Christianity and the other religions. The three approaches are: Exclusivism, inclusivism and pluralism. The third approach is incompatible with the traditional Christian mission. There are however some Christia...

Christianity arrived in Cape Verde with Portuguese navigators (1446) and Franciscans in 1465/66. A Catholic diocese* was erected in the island of Santiago in 1533 and remained until 1705, when for two centuries Cape Verde became part of a West African diocese. Today, there are two dioceses in Cape Verde, in Santiago and Sanvicente islands. Nazarene...

The article describes the arrival of Chistianity in the Cape Verde Islnads as follows: Christianity arrived in Cape Verde with Portuguese navigators (1446) and Franciscans in 1465/66. A Catholic diocese* was erected in the island of Santiago in 1533 and remained until 1705, when for two centuries Cape Verde became part of a West African diocese. To...

A presentation of the Swedish Theologian Anders Nygren, a Professor of Systematic theology: His other professions and writings. Keywords: Nygren, Eros and Agape

The article describes the work done by a number of 20th-century theologians who have centered about the University of Lund, Sweden. Within the movement have been: Nathan Søderblom, a former primate of the Church of Sweden… The Lundensian theology is often contrasted with the Uppsala school where traditional theology (i.e., normative theology as an...

In this archipelago off the coast of West Africa, a former Portuguese colony, the Catholic Church had a privileged position until 1975, when political independence progressively led to democracy and religious pluralism. Christianity arrived in Cape Verde with Portuguese navigators (1446) and Franciscans in 1465/66. A Catholic diocese* was erected...

Abstract The chapter is an attempt to show the difficult of formulating a global ethics today, i.e., a normative ethics applicable to all people in all cultures. The traditional African view on family, marriage and woman illustrates this difficulty. The author argues for the possibility of a global ethics based on “a minimal fundamental consensus c...

The aim of this paper is to argue for the necessity of the qualitative method, i.e., to understand the nature, distinctiveness, fruitfulness, limitation and scientific status of qualitative methodology (QM). The following theoretical foundations of QM should be clarified. (i) The Philosophic-Anthropological Foundation of QM (ii) The Ontological Fo...

Background: The article defines a comprehensive concept of cognitive objectivity (CCCO) applied to embodied subjects in health care. The aims of this study were: (1) to specify some necessary conditions for the definition of a CCCO that will allow objective descriptions and assessments in health care, (2) to formulate criteria for application of s...

Abstract The book has three chapters. In the first chapter, the abortion question is analysed in the light of classical humanistic and classical-Christian humanistic views of human beings from a non-gradable human being perspective. In the second chapter, the abortion question is analysed in the light of non-classical humanistic and non-humanistic...

Abstract This article attempts to answer the following question: how significant is theological normativity for church development practice. At a time when many leaders are busy developing local churches ac cording to secular organizational models and experiences, this question always arises: to what extent does the normative character of the Bible...

From the viewpoint of the aims, objects, and methods of studying or reflecting on religious phenomena and ideas, it is possible to delineate three main types of philosophy of religion since 1917, when Rudolf Otto published his book Das Heilige, until the present. For the sake of argumentation, I call these three main approaches to philosophy of rel...

The book provides a basic understanding for a trauma informed practices, which are based on attachment theory, trauma professional and ethical perspectives. The authors present knowledge about experiences that can cause trauma, the symptoms one must be prepared to be confronted with, and how to encounter the traumatized patient with insight and und...

Chapter 2 describes health care ethics from the viewpoint of the classic-humanistic view of the human being. Central ethical terms relevant to the other chapters in the book are refined. Some of them are: human dignity and worth, integrity, autonomy, paternalism and moral virtue. These terms are used in the book to illustrate relevant ethical probl...

The use of coercive means in trauma informed mental health care – a scientific and an ethical perspective The chapter analyses the challenge related to the use of coercive means and violence in treatment of patients suffering from trauma in mental health care. The authors, first, point out the negative effect of the use of coercion, for example it...

Abstract As its title indicates the chapter deals with some relevant reactions of therapists in their attempt to have an authentic communication with their patients in trauma-informed and holistic treatment. The main question dealt with in the chapter is how the therapist in his/her attitude to patients and communication with them can avoid the ph...

Abstract The Old Testament story of Job is the foundation for this chapter addressing dignity in suffering, as this Bible story may provide some theological answers to what dignity is, and what it is not. Job’s suffering may be compared to what is described as a threat to personal integrity and dignity. When Job’s friends try to comfort him accordi...

Abstract This article attempts to answer the following question: how significant is theological normativity for church development practice. At a time when many leaders are busy developing local churches ac cording to secular organizational models and experiences, this question always arises: to what extent does the normative character of the Bibl...

Abstract The book makes a moral philosophical analysis of the concepts of human integrity, dignity and autonomy in relation to paternalism, and their place in health care and social work. The authors argue for the priority of dignity as ethical value and principle when it conflicts with integrity, autonomy and paternalism, all of them taken also as...

Abstract In my lecture I defend the thesis that Christian faith is not a crutch for people in helpless situations, in which they do not get any help from any one else than God. I maintain, on the contrary, that Christian faith, when is at its best, is a solid ground or foundation for the believer in which he/she can find meaning in life and the mea...

Purpose: To investigate whether adding descriptions of the health factors "ability," "environment" and "intentions/goals" to the officially sanctioned biomedical disability model (BDM) would improve assessments of work ability for social security purposes. Method: The study was based on a theoretical design consisting of textual analysis and int...

Spirituality is often mistakenly equated with religion but is in fact a far broader concept. The aim of this integrative review was to describe experiences of the positive impact of spirituality and spiritual values in the context of nursing. The analysis was guided by Whittemore and Knafl’s integrative review method. The findings revealed seven th...

Spirituality is often mistakenly equated with religion but is in fact a far broader concept. The aim of this integrative review was to describe experiences of the positive impact of spirituality and spiritual values in the context of nursing. The analysis was guided by Whittemore and Knafl's integrative review method. The findings revealed seven th...

The purpose of this theoretical article is to discuss the existential and universal feature of suffering-as illustrated by Job's suffering in the Book of Job in the Bible and by the survivors of the 2004 Asian tsunami catastrophe-and to highlight its significance for health care. Further, the study is aiming at contributing to health professionals'...

Spirituality is often mistakenly equated with religion but is in fact a far broader concept. The aim of this integrative review was to describe experiences of the positive impact of spirituality and spiritual values in the context of nursing. The analysis was guided by Whittemore and Knafl’s integrative review method. The findings revealed seven th...

Abstract The goal of this lecture is to emphasize and clarify Professor Dr. Jan Kåre Hummelvolls contribution to, inter alia, care theory and ethics of care (i.e., nursing ethics). This I will show through developing both his implicit and explicit existential-humanistic view of the human being as described in his written scientific productions. I m...

Abstract “The medical model views disability as a problem of the person, directly caused by disease, trauma,…, which requires medical care provided in the form of individual treatment by professionals” (ICF manual p. 20). In our critique of the biomedical model (BHM) we propose a supplement of it as follows: ICF is a model of human functioning and...

The purpose of this chapter is to show how religion and psychology are interconnected and how they impact in health. This kind of relationship is studied by Psychoneuroimmunology which can be seen as a sub-disciple of the Psychology of Religion and Neuroscience. Researches in religious psychology and religious sociology have shown that Religious ac...

The book describes the various contributions to the establishment of democracy on Cape Islands. It shows the contribution of humanistic ethics and the special contribution of Christian Ethics owing to the fact that Cap Verde Islands, as Portuguese colony, have been Catholic since 1460, the year in which the Portuguese navigators arrived there. The...

Abstract The article interrogates the silence of both Christians and humanists on abortion (lat. Abortus provocatus) issue, in Norway and elsewhere in the world. That these two groups of people are in focus is due to the fact that they maintain that all human beings have the right to life and that the human life begins at conception. They also defe...

Abstract The purpose of the chapter is to answer three main questions: 1) How can we justify an evangelical environment ethics from a biblical perspective?, 2) how is it possible to integrate the Christian stewardship with an evangelical understanding of the Christian faith?, and 3) How can newer thinking capture environmental ethics and Christian...

Aim: To gain a deeper understanding of community nurses' experiences of ethical problems in end-of-life care in the patient's own home. Method: Ten female nurses from five different communities with experience of end-of-life care were interviewed. A hermeneutic approach inspired by Gadamer was used to analyse the qualitative data from the interv...

Scand J Caring Sci; 2012 The human being's spiritual experiences in a mental healthcare context; their positive and negative meaning and impact on health - a hermeneutic approach The study aims at describing different meanings of patients' spiritual experiences and their impact on patients' health in mental healthcare. The different contents of pat...

The International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health (ICF), designed by the WHO, attempts to provide a holistic model of functioning and disability by integrating a medical model with a social one. The aim of this article is to analyze the ICF’s claim to holism. The following components of the ICF’s complexity are analyzed: (1) he...

The pollution of nature today is a global problem, the solution of which requires global ecological ethics, which attempts to solve ethical global problems that arise, as a consequence of negative change in the environment, which is endangering the health, existential conditions, and the survival of all living beings. The author argues that Christi...

The article discusses the relevance of basic ethical concepts, theories and perspectives in mental health work. Some of the discussed ethical principles are autonomy, integrity and dignity. The authors analyse the application of these and other closely related principles in mental health care, from the point of view of principles based and rules ba...

The aim of the study was to explore the meaning of consolation as experienced by Job in the Book of Job and as presented in literature and how consolation relates to suffering and care. The study's theoretical design applied Ricoeur's view on phenomenology and hermeneutics. The resulting themes were as follows: consolation that is present, that ori...

Scand J Caring Sci; 2010; 24; 707–715 Out of the wave: the meaning of suffering and relieved suffering for survivors of the tsunami catastrophe. An hermeneutic-phenomenological study of TV-interviews one year after the tsunami catastrophe, 2004The tsunami catastrophe, 26th December 2004, is one of a number of catastrophes that has stricken mankind....

The tsunami catastrophe, 26th December 2004, is one of a number of catastrophes that has stricken mankind. Climate reports forecast that natural disasters will increase in number in the future. Research on human suffering after a major catastrophe, using a caring science perspective, is scarce. The aim of the study was to explore the meaning of suf...

The aim of this study was to explore the meaning of suffering and relief from suffering as described in autobiographies by tourists who experienced the tsunami on 26 December 2004 and lost loved ones. A lifeworld approach, inspired by the French philosopher Merleau-Ponty's phenomenology of perception, was chosen for the theoretical framework. This...

This article aims to deepen the understanding of courage through a theoretical analysis of classical philosophers' work and a review of published and unpublished empirical research on courage in nursing. The authors sought answers to questions regarding how courage is understood from a philosophical viewpoint and how it is expressed in nursing acti...

The aim of this study was to highlight community nurses' experiences of ethical dilemmas in palliative care. There are many studies on palliative care but research on how community nurses experience ethical dilemmas in palliative home care is lacking. The ethical dilemmas to which these nurses are exposed seriously challenge their ethical competenc...

ABSTRACT Coercion in mental healthcare in light of human rights, dignity/integrity and the ethical criteria for treatment – an ethical analysis This article is a theoretical analysis of the use of coercion in mental healthcare, scrutinized in light of human dignity/integrity and worth, human rights, and the ethical criteria for treatment which are:...

This article is a theoretical analysis of the use of coercion in mental healthcare, scrutinized in light of human dignity and worth, human rights, and the ethical criteria for treatment which are: the principle of respect for dignity and worth, integrity, autonomy, and paternalism. In mental healthcare the use of coercion – which implies acting aga...

The chapter deals with the coming of Christianity to Cape Verde Island in 1446, when the former Portuguese colony was established there. Until the political independence of the islands in 1975, the main church or denomination was the Roman Catholic Church. The second large church was the Nazarene one, which arrive in the islands for about 115 years...

Abstract The article attempts to answer the ethically normative question: Ought a soldier to be morally good? This is a controversial issue in Norway. The author maintains that a distinction should be made between what is “morally good” and what “is good in a non-moral or non-ethical sense”. For example a knife is good if it serves its purpose, whi...

This article assesses the similarity and difference between the Western European style of doing bioethics and the Scandinavian one. First, it reviews the introductory article by the editor, C. Delkeskamp-Hayes in the first issue of Christian Bioethics (2008), devoted to the possibility of a specifically Christian bioethics in Europe. Second, it ana...

ABSTRACT The public health nurses’ ethical decision-making to improve the lack of emotional attachment between parents and children. Thisis article is an ethical analysis of the results offrom a qualitative study on public health nurses working with children’s health in Norway. Two arguments used by public health nurses for not involving themselves...

This study illuminates how existential needs and spiritual needs are connected with health care ethics and individuals' mental health and well-being. The term existential needs is defined as the necessity of experiencing life as meaningful, whereas the term spiritual needs is defined as the need of deliverance from despair, guilt and/or sin, and of...

This chapter examines the relationship between the concepts of autonomy, dignity and integrity, and their implications for health care and law. These three closely related concepts are central to health care ethics, the normative ethics for all health professionals. These ethics express the moral obligation of all health professionals to save life,...

The aim of this critical review of the literature is to illuminating how an individual’s existential and spiritual needs are connected with human dignity and fundamental human rights in mental healthcare. This article also attempts to illustrate how the Western mental healthcare system assesses and often neglects patients’ existential and spiritual...

Generally, in the Western countries’ healthcare system, the legitimated knowledge is based on medical science, without recognition of patients’ spiritual dimension. On the contrary, patients’ spiritual experience is seen as a sign or symptom of mental disorder. Today’s secularization and multifaith society are significant for mental care. There are...

This article assesses the similarity and difference between the Western European style of doing bioethics and the Scandinavian one. First, it reviews the introductory article by the editor, C. Delkeskamp-Hayes in the first issue of Christian Bioethics (2008), devoted to the possibility of a specifically Christian bioethics in Europe. Second, it ana...

The question is put by one of the elderly informants in the thesis: Caring and non-caring consolation (Roxberg, 2005). The question is not only relevant for one individual but has more of a universal relevance and it appears, if the concept is extended, to be able to reveal what suffering is and how it is experienced. In a similar way to the questi...

ABSTRACT The public health nurses' ethical decision-making to improve the lack of emotional attachment between parents and children. This article analyses two arguments used by public health nurses for not involving themselves in the parent-child relation when nurses perceive that there is not an authentic emotional attachment between them. The re...