Meaning of Life and Meaning of Care: A Christian Perspective

Abstract

In this contribution, we will review the quest for meaning in the lives of people with mental retardation, and of the meaning of care, in light of what I conceive to be some key concepts of the Christian tradition. This tradition is complex and therefore not always unequivocal. As I will argue, however, the degree of unanimity and consensus is larger than the amount of dissensus. I commence with some remarks about what we do when we ask questions about the meaning of life, and I will especially point to the action-guiding intention of such questions (section 2). Next, I explore some other theoretical questions, such as whether meaning is formulated “bottom-up,” “top-down,” or dialectically (section 3). The connection between meaning and experiences of meaning and the question to what degree issues about meaning are different for people with, and without mental retardation, is addressed in section 4. Although all sections are written on the backdrop of a Christian worldview, section 5 addresses the Biblical basis for such an approach more thematically. This chapter ends with some conclusions.