Occupational Science and the First‐Person Perspective

Abstract

The individualistic tendencies in occupational science can be explained in part by its proponents’ reliance on “the interpretive tradition” originating in Weberian sociology and phenomenological philosophy, and taking account of what an actor from his or her first‐person perspective means by an action. From within this interpretive perspective, one can take account of actors’ interrelationship with their contexts but in such a way that that relationship cannot be explained as simply the result of physical‐causal processes. An approach to occupational science based on the model of an “organism‐in‐relationship‐to‐its‐environment” may help elucidate the holistic, environmentally interconnected dimensions of occupation. But such a theoretical perspective risks overlooking the first‐person perspective of actors that mere organisms lack, that an adequate occupational science must consider, and that debates about the methods appropriate to occupational science themselves presuppose.

Key Words:

• Occupation
• Dewey
• Individualism
• Phenomenology