Episode 2

full
Published on:

30th Nov 2023

Care, conscience and hospitality - with Xavier Symons

How can a personalist perspective contribute to a better understanding of the experience of people living with dementia? What does it mean to offer hospitality to those in need of care? And why is it important to respect the conscience, and the right to conscientious objection, of healthcare practitioners? These are some of the questions we explore in this episode with Xavier Symons, a postdoctoral fellow at the Human Flourishing Program in the Institute for Quantitative Social Science at Harvard University, and the author of Why Conscience Matters: A Defence of Conscientious Objection in Healthcare (Routledge).

We cover the following topics in this episode:

Xavier's current work at Harvard (02:12)

Xavier's earlier academic work (05:38)

Personal and family influences on Xavier's academic journey (11:25)

A personalist perspective on dementia care (15:00)

'Reciprocating care' (22:40)

Recovering the notion of hospitality in care work (26:35)

Hospitality and disponibilité (30:10)

Hospitality and spiritual care (35:00)

Why conscience matters in healthcare (37:30)

The virtuous practitioner (40:55)

Conscientious objection and end of life care (42:00)

Other personal and philosophical influences on Xavier's thinking (49:05)

Links

Xavier's website

The Human Flourishing Program at Harvard

Plunkett Centre for Ethics

Personalism

Catholic social teaching

Xavier's publications

Why Conscience Matters: A Defence of Conscientious Objection in Healthcare (2022)

'Love to the Very End: A Theology of Dementia' (2021)

'The Hostility of Illness and the Therapeutic Importance of Hospitality' (2023)

Other publications mentioned in the episode

Karol Wojtyla (John Paul II), Love and Responsibility

Eva Feder Kittay and Ellen K Feder, The Subject of Care: Feminist Perspectives on Dependency

Gerd S Sellevold et al., 'Quality care for persons experiencing dementia: the significance of relational ethics'

Brendan Sweetman (ed.) A Gabriel Marcel Reader

Alasdair MacIntyre, After Virtue

O. Carter Snead, What It Means to Be Human: The Case for the Body in Public Bioethics

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About the Podcast

Careful Thinking
Exploring ideas about care
At some point in our lives, we will all have the experience of caring for another person - or of being cared for ourselves. But what exactly is ‘care’, and what do we mean by ‘good’ care? How do our beliefs, identities, and the social, cultural and political contexts in which we live, shape our experience of caring or being cared for? And how can ideas, theories, and the findings from research, help us to think more care-fully – and to care more thoughtfully?

Careful Thinking explores these and similar questions, inspired by a belief that thinking critically about care can both deepen our understanding and improve the everyday practice of care. In each episode of the podcast, you'll hear an in-depth conversation with a researcher, writer or practitioner at the cutting edge of current thinking about care.

If you would like to give us your feedback, or suggest a guest or a topic for a future episode, you can get in touch at carefulthinkingpodcast@gmail.com. And you can leave comments on episodes and join in the discussion at https://carefulthinking.substack.com.

About your host

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Martin Robb

Martin Robb is a Senior Lecturer in the School of Health, Wellbeing and Social Care at The Open University (UK), where his research has focused on men, masculinities and care. He is the author of 'Men, Masculinities and the Care of Children: Images, Ideas and Identities' (2020) and the co-editor of 'Men and Loss: New Perspectives on Bereavement, Grief and Masculinity' (2024).