The axiological ontology of occupational therapy: A philosophical analysis

Abstract

Objective: This article describes the results of a study analyzing several discourses on the values of occupational therapy and some philosophical assumptions upon which these values are based. Method: A qualitative study of several values statements using the hermeneutical method - a conventional analytical approach in philosophy - was conducted. Results: The literature review reveals that opinions on the values of occupational therapy differ greatly – no one value is shared among all the values statements examined. However, the majority of the texts mention occupational participation. A philosophical analysis of the literature shows that this value is based on a conception of human beings that can be traced back to the philosophical anthropologies of thinkers like Marx, Rousseau, Sartre, and Kant. The philosophical analysis also brought to light a certain conceptual confusion about what a value is. Conclusions: This article therefore offers some conceptual clarifications to help distinguish between values, beliefs, attitudes, principles, and non-evaluative concepts. It also presents the implications for practice of this philosophical analysis of values statements of the profession.

Key words::

• professional values
• philosophical assumptions
• philosophical anthropology
• occupational therapy values
• axiology

Acknowledgments

The author would like to thank the Université du Québec à Trois-Rivières (UQTR) for its support via the Institutional Start-up Support fund (FIR). Gratitude is expressed to Marjorie Desormeaux-Moreau, PhD student in psychology at UQTR, for her database research, and to the author's colleagues, Professors Marlène Falardeau and Claire Dumont, for their feedback on the initial draft of this paper. Thanks are also due to Egan Valentine, professor in the Department of Modern Languages and Translation of UQTR, for his English translation of a preliminary version of this article originally written in French.

Declaration of interest: The author reports no conflicts of interest. The author alone is responsible for the content and writing of the paper.

Notes

1 Axiology is the study of values. By extension, the adjective axiological refers to values.

2 Indeed, this study assumes that a value or certain values characterize occupational therapy, and therefore the identity of the profession. It assumes that, in both theory and practice, occupational therapy differs to some extent from other health professions with regard to underlying values. Of course, other assumptions can be drawn from other philosophical perspectives.

3 Authors also use the terms “occupational performance” and “occupational engagement”. For the purposes of this article, the expression “occupational participation” is used to encompass the two facets mentioned, although they are not interchangeable.

4 Marx uses the term “labour” in a wide sense, to encompass human occupations in general. The same is true for the term “production”, which refers not only to material production but also to economic, artistic, scientific, and ideological production.

5 In the interest of simplicity, aesthetic values have been excluded. Only ethical or moral values have been addressed in this article.

6 In this paper, a client may be an individual, a family, a community or an organization. Also, according to the ecological vision of occupational therapy, a client can be a person within a given social context, that is to say within the family or community to which the client belongs.