Abstract

The purpose of this study is to interpret and analyze the art of nursing from the philosophy-of-art perspectives in Sparshott's The Theory of the Arts . This study, guided by several preliminary research questions, is a presentation of the issues relevant to, the consequences inherent in, and the value of defining the art of nursing within the Sparshott's lines of philosophy of art. Although none of the lines is unproblematic, each contributes to a fuller understanding of what is meant when one speaks of any practice, including nursing practice, as an art. Between the lines, there are notable tensions in terms of describing art as a preconceived product or a spontaneous process of becoming that contribute to a multifaceted view of art. In the classical line, the art of nursing is conceived as a product or performance dependent on a body of knowledge and skills for actualization. In the expressive line, the art of nursing is conceived as the process of the interpersonal articulation of human beings. While each line correlates with major concerns in the discipline of nursing, neither line of thought is philosophically complete or rich enough to stand alone as an explanation of the art of nursing. ;The central aspects of nursing which emerged in the classical line--caring, advocacy, presence, holistic care, healing, empathy--achieve a fuller, although theoretically problematic vitality if reconsidered from an expressive perspective. Due to their dependence on the interpersonal process, these aspects of nursing practice consistently superseded the confines of the classical conception of the art of nursing. Likewise, the central aspects of the expressive line of the art of nursing--the interpersonal articulation of mutual expression and power, intuition, and the upholding of values independent of economic determinants--risk becoming ethereal idealisms if not grounded in the structured, substantive reality of nursing practice. This reality is the exoskeleton of the classical line. Clearly, a full explication of the art of nursing requires perspectives of both lines and must therefore exist within the tension of divergent views which are suggested to be resolved within the concept of respect