Meaningfulness, Volunteering and Being Moved: The Event of Witnessing

This paper draws on an in-depth phenomenological analysis of some interviews taken from volunteers, inviting them to reflect on their lived experiences of meaningfulness in the context of volunteering and citizenship. It is found that while some testimonies reinforce the standard conceptions of mean...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inFoundations of science Vol. 21; no. 2; p. 283
Main Authors Note, Nicole, Van Daele, Emilie
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Springer 01.06.2016
Subjects
Analysis
Meaning (Philosophy)
Volunteerism
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Summary:This paper draws on an in-depth phenomenological analysis of some interviews taken from volunteers, inviting them to reflect on their lived experiences of meaningfulness in the context of volunteering and citizenship. It is found that while some testimonies reinforce the standard conceptions of meaningfulness, other testimonies vary from it. The main challenge of this contribution consists in phenomenologically describing this alternative picture of meaningfulness, depicted as the event of wit(h)nessing. In a final part, the authors consider how volunteering is at times especially prone to further experiences of wit(h)nessing.
ISSN:1233-1821
1572-8471
DOI:10.1007/s10699-014-9388-5