The Implications of "TAIKEN" as the Foundation of Qualitative Research

-- A Review of the Hermeneutical Traditions After Dilthey and a Comparison between the German Originals and their Translational Variations in English and Japanese --

Abstract

The objectives of this paper include, first, clarifying philosophical significance in "TAIKEN" (a traditionally translated Japanese word of German "Erlebnis") that German-speaking philosophers used as a key concept of their philosophy. The second objective is to discuss the meaning of "TAIKEN" and "KEIKEN" in nursing qualitative researches in Japan.
As a result of the literature-review written by Dilthey, Husserl, Heidegger, Shütz, and Gadamer, it was thought that "TAIKEN", the nursing researchers often explored in a qualitative way, means "SIN-TEKI-SEI" what Dilthey calls "Seelenleben", and "YUU-IMI-NA-TAIKEN" (Erlebnis als sinnhaftes) that was apprehend in retrospect by patients or nurses as research subjects. Furthermore, it was suggested that the researches which explored "TAIKEN" had the theoretical base in philosophy of life (Lebensphilosophie) and/or hermeneutics carried from Dilthey to Husserl, Heidegger, Shütz, and Gadamer.