Book review: 'Categories: A Study of a Concept in Western Philosophy and Political Thought'

Categories

 

To - Edinburgh University Press. 

Many thanks for this book -

O’Sullivan L. Categories: A Study of a Concept in Western Philosophy and Political Thought. Edinburgh University Press; 2024.

Requested in May, your response was quick. So, my apologies for the delay in picking this up. In mitigation, what I have been learning since, will help my reading of O'Sullivan's text.

As readers of W2tQ will have realised, there is a built in bias to my reading of any text. In short: It's all about the model. 

Categories was spotted in Foyles on a visit to London. It recommended itself instantly: title, Venn diagrams, sets and all.

A larger format paperback of 335 pages, the print quality, font and design match the values and usual care of the publisher. 

Given the subject, there are appropriately distinct indices of subjects and proper names.

At pages 2-3, I have already succumbed (my emphasis):

'As a result, there is widespread contemporary recognition that categories are both important and problematic. A non-exhaustive list of academic fields and disciplines in which issues to do with categories arise includes anthropology, critical theory, cultural studies, feminist studies, history, linguistics, philosophy, political science, political theory, post-colonial studies, post-modernism, post-humanism, psychoanalysis, psychology, rhetoric and sociology. It is clear, moreover, that this recognition reflects the situation in society at large. Popular authors articulate a pervasive feeling that "Things are in the wrong place. Religion is in the box where science used to be. Politics is on the shelf where you thought you left science the previous afternoon." Categorical worries have penetrated public as well as academic discourse.' pp.2-3.

But how did Luke O'Sullivan know? On page 3 having given us the informal uses of the word 'category':

'These, moreover, are only the informal uses; there are also formal, logical and mathematical, senses which we shall largely have to pass over.^'13

For me it is a disappointment that the formal aspects will be passed over. It is also a relief. 

For a model that is situated, as far as nursing theory, and models of nursing/care were concerned in 1997-8; Hodges' model had been left on the shelf - gathering dust.

I recognised a slide from a Youtube video this past week, care of Cheng I think? I'll share soon.

More to follow.

13 Eugenia Cheng, Cakes, Custard, and Category Theory Easy Recipes for Understanding Complex Mathematics (London: Profile Books, 2015) provides an introduction to mathematical category theory.

Living and Caring Dangerously

individual

|
INTERPERSONAL : SCIENCES             

humanistic ------------------------------- mechanistic

SOCIOLOGY : POLITICAL   

|

group

mental health   Cognition Inability to consent  mental capacity	My liberty Locked doors Treatment - medication  'Secure (safe)' environment
Family - friends dignity, privacy, respect vulnerability Best interest decision	Lasting power of attorney - finance; health External safeguards human rights

 

My source: BBC Radio 4 'Today' 25th September 2026: From 0841

Sir Ranulph Fiennes ‘kept unlawfully in care home’ [ The Times ]

The explorer, 82, is being ‘deprived of his liberty’, according to the watchdog, and his wife Louise Millington-Cotes is refusing visitors.

Hannah Crowe

Friday September 25 2026, 12.41am, The Times

 See also:

Living Dangerously: An Interview with Sir Ranulph Fiennes [Brighton Dome]

Wed 10th Apr 2019

From the bibliography (lower sidebar):

Hodges, B.E. (1989) The Health Career Model, IN, Hinchcliffe, S.M. (et al.) 1989 Nursing Practice and Health Care, 1st Edition only, London, Edward Arnold.

Adams, T. (1987) Dementia is a family affair. Community Outlook, Feb, 7-8. 

Merritt MK, Procter N. Conceptualising the functional role of mental health consultation-liaison nurse in multi-morbidity, using Peplau's nursing theory. Contemp Nurse. 2010 Feb-Mar;34(2):158-66. doi: 10.5172/conu.2010.34.2.158. PMID: 20509800.

Murphy, K., Welford C. (2012) Agenda for the future: enhancing autonomy for older people in residential care.International Journal of Older People Nursing. 7, 75–80.

Kernohan, W. G., & Jones, P. (2023). Hodges’ Health Care Model as a Framework for Quality. Paper presented at Interprofessional work: developing oral care and the health workforce for the future, Brescia, Italy.
https://pure.ulster.ac.uk/en/publications/hodges-health-care-model-as-a-framework-for-quality

Jones, P. (2025). A Conceptual Mapping Exercise of Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards in Residential & Community Care Using Hodges' Model and Threshold Concepts. Journal of Evaluation in Clinical Practice, 31: e70085. https://doi.org/10.1111/jep.70085 

Jones, P. (2025), A Generic Model and Conceptual Framework to Prime Curiosity Across Health and Social Care Disciplines to Facilitate Lifelong Learning. Journal of Evaluation in Clinical Practice, 31: e70252. https://doi.org/10.1111/jep.70252

Previously: 'capacity' : 'law' : 'safeguarding' : 'health career'

I can't count the number of times in a nursing home, when a visit by a friend has re-ignited the flame of memory, passion and personhood; even if temporary. It was never my place to thank the friends for visiting, but they've made a difference, so crucial to acknowledge the courage on their part. Making the journey, being present and with. So difficult too, for families.

Beware of the Concept

Yesterday Alan Ayckbourn's gold-nugget-laden book -

The Crafty Art of Playmaking by Alan Ayckbourn. Faber, 2004, softcover, ISBN 0571215106.
https://www.concordtheatricals.co.uk/s/45898/the-crafty-art-of-playmaking 

- found a new owner. Beforehand, I turned up the following helpful advice (or, 'obvious rules'): 

ix Introduction

'The following is an attempt to describe, as far as I can, this double process [writing and directing, PJ]. Some of it is quite probably unique to me and contains procedures and practices that it would be highly unwise for others to try and copy. The rest is really just plain common sense. But if I've learnt anything it is that it never hurts to point out the obvious occasionally, certainly in the theatre - to actors, directors or writers and sometimes even to designers, stage managers and technicians. Often we quite wrongly suspect simplicity. We go digging around in the creative sand trying to make.our art more meaningful, somehow 'deeper'. Generally all we do is end up with our heads entirely buried, presenting the audience with our rear ends.'

Obvious Rule No. 3
If you don't have the initial inspiration, put down the pen,put the pencil back in the jar, switch off the computer and go and dig the garden instead.
.. 
'At its most successful, theatre views things from a human standpoint. It is after all the most human in scale of all the performance media. My feeling is that that's also a good place for a dramatist to start, at the human level. As a playwright it may be your intention to build a vehicle to take us to the stars. But do make sure you have people aboard.

Initial inspiration - that essential starting point - comes in all shapes and sizes.' p..9.

Obvious Rule No. 49
Beware of the Concept.

DIRECTING

'Don't be talked into anything you feel instinctively you'll regret later. If you must have a concept (God save us from that word) then let the concept be something that's worked out between you. Let it spring from the play and not from the fact that the production manager has 5oo square metres of black lino left over from their last production. I once heard the fateful words, 'I think it's about time we did something with mirrors.' If at all possible, try and persuade the producer, whoever it is, to let you make as many scenic decisions as late on as possible. There will always be an intense pressure to decide everything before you start. This can be fatal.' pp.118-19.

In pencil I noted: 'Hodges' model is different. So, don't panic.' Is it? Really?

I've saved this for the last: 

'Then there is the new old playwright. Far more difficult to deal with. They have probably nursed this script for twenty-five years and they're damned if you're going to mess it up for them when they've waited so long. Especially someone your age who wasn't even born when their harrowing play about World War Two was still raging, dammit.' p.110.

It's not that I believe I'm a (potential) playwright, it's the learning.

See also: 'Ayckbourn' : 'drama'

Euclidean or Projective Care?

How many dimensions does a written - narrative record have?

Sketching out some ideas, I asked the question on Google and as usual an AI Overview response followed - snippet:

AI Overview

A physical written record has two primary spatial dimensions (length and breadth/width) as a flat document, or three dimensions (including thickness or depth/height) when considering its physical form or binding. [1, 2]

In archival and Records Continuum theory, a written record exists dynamically across four conceptual dimensions: [1, 2].

I put the question to the Records Management list with the above snippet and received several useful suggestions and sources. Perhaps I can share that at a future point? 

Acutely aware of not pursuing maths and category theory for its own sake, the query was driven by an attempt to look at Hodges' model in mathematical terms. Starting, rather obviously with the models structure and axes. When the model is assembled, as per many posts, the vertical axis:

INDIVIDUAL
|
GROUP

- shouts out the issue of parity and the distinction between mind and body. It does this at the individual and collective level. If we were to draw a silo, a cylinder springs to mind, and there are specific reasons for silos adopting this shape. Descartes gives us the perfect excuse, in the ongoing legacy. 

     Mathematical Visions

The question above came up from Joan L. Richards book 'Mathematical Visions' (c/o Lancaster Univ. library). Euclidean and the emergence of projective geometry is described. There is an interplay between 2D and 3D representation, that made me think about the health record and its dimensions. Not in a dataset sense (multi-dimensional), more generally and concretely(?). A patient's record on paper has physical dimensions (A4), there is a flow. An EHR has its virtual dimensions (discuss!). Abstractly the content is a time machine. At some point in a health encounter it is a literal 'history', the level of detail in accord with the context. The record might present the problem, premorbid situation, diagnosis, current state, observations and prognosis and much more.

I can revisit this, Richards provides a series of figures. We progress from two distinct circles (my silos) through to examples with a discussion of continuity and projection that sees the circles touching, then intersecting. This is a radical axis.

Richards, Joan L. (1988), Mathematical Visions: The Pursuit of Geometry in Victorian England, Boston: Academic Press, ISBN0-12-587445

Book cover: Amazon.

Philosophical Counselling Reading Group [and Hodges' model]

The discovery of a reading group on philosophical counselling (PC), through University of Liverpool, continues to prove helpful; to utilise professional experience, that included counselling, family therapy, cognitive therapy in psychoses, and practical experience as a mental health nurse (in-patient and community). There is overlap with Hodges' model, but it's fascinating and rewarding to listen and learn from practitioners of PC. As noted before, I was aware of PC through two popular philosophy magazines. This time around we read:

Ran Lahav, “Philosophical Counseling and Self-Transformation,” in Philosophy, Counseling, and Psychotherapy, eds. Elliot D. Cohen & S. Samuel Zinaich, Jr. (Newcastle upon Tyne: Cambridge Scholars Publishing, 2013), 82.

Abstract

This paper presents my approach to philosophical counseling, which is geared towards self-transformation, and is inspired by important thinkers throughout the history of Western philosophy whom I call transformational thinkers. I take from these thinkers the realization that our daily life is normally confined to rigid and superficial attitudes towards ourselves and our world. This is because individuals’ everyday attitudes are based on limited understandings of life, which form what I call the person’s perimeter, or perimetral worldview. The goal of philosophical counseling, as I see it, is to help counselees transcend their constricted perimetral worldview, or in the language of Plato – to realize that they are imprisoned in a “cave,” and then to step out of it towards a fuller reality. A case study is presented to illustrate the two main stages of the counseling process. 

I know there is the (biblical) phrase 'Seek and you will find'; but there is also the notion of seeing only what you seek, and missing other content - contexts. This is marked in beliefs and the development of delusional ideas. 

Of interest to me, Lahav discusses (as indicated above) a person’s perimeter, or perimetral worldview. 

We still hear how difficult it is for people to access help. I wondered (again) about referral pathways for PC? The nature of the person's problems that prompts them to seek help? Lahav acknowledges the complexity here. Speaking of 'prompt', of course now there is AI in the mix. Lahav points out how PC does not quite have the foundation and hence theoretical impetus (and rigour?) that Freud provided to psychoanalysis and psychotherapy. 

PC is, however, to some extent a broad field: '... philosophical practice has come to include several different formats in which it is practiced: one-time workshops for the general public, philosophical retreats, long-term self-reflection groups, the philosophical café, and of course philosophical counseling'. 

I wonder if philosophical counsellor's could have a role, post AI / agentic ai interventions. This could provide a step-down assurance, and be rolled into 'treatment / intervention programmes'. This could help retain the humanistic element of duty of care, underscore the person_al in care architectures/systems and provide a step-down - just in-case AI has missed, or upset something? The acknowledged strength of AI in not being subjective is balanced. Although evidence also points to misogynistic responses derived through what can be biased, and prejudiced learning sources: thus a reflection of 'society'.

In the introduction, more encouragement with reference to situated, a general map, and basic - fundamental aspects. There are (at least) two domains: 'the domain of philosophical discourse and the domain of everyday life and predicaments'. 

Hodges' model was created to facilitate the FIRST approach in PC, the Critical Thinking Approach, with an associated subtype of Problem-Solving Approach. 

It was also designed to help with the theory-practice gap. Lahav describes this in the how and what of philosophy and PC itself. I wondered to what extent if the approach of PC 'leave out the more important “what” of great philosophies.' then would a counselee be denied avenues to learning, as we may be drawn to specific philosophical schools of thought, and crucially reasoning?

The SECOND approach to PC is the Edification Approach. The author has adopted this second approach in practice.

Guess what? Yes, you've got it. Hodges' model can actually close a circle here. Or, more accurately help sustain the reflective, reflexive, recursive ... reasoning loop as needed. Another objective of Hodges' model is to produce reflective practitioners, critical thinkers and lifelong learners.

A take-away for me is the 'perimeter and the perimetral worldview'. A search for 'perimeter' here on W2tQ is null.^ I'm also wondering about transformation (in the title) and throughout the paper.

There may be an example here were a domain of Hodges' model can itself reflect the model, as in the Intra- Interpersonal domain below.

Lahav employs a case study to illustrate his thought and practice. The discussion really helped improve my reading and understanding of this.

individual

|
INTERPERSONAL : SCIENCES             

humanistic ------------------------------- mechanistic

SOCIOLOGY : POLITICAL   

|

group

Psychology   | Philosophy(-isms) ________________________________ Psycho-Social|  Psychotherapies	basic - fundamental general map
case study	referral pathways

^'Peripheral' does feature in posts.

Paper: What factors influence evidence use in policy? An updated systematic map

 Abstract  [ REVIEW | Article in Press ]

In 2014, a large systematic map found that relational factors were amongst the most frequently reported facilitators of evidence use in policy. Since then, there has been a growth in evidence-use initiatives and research, many of which have attempted to address relational factors. In this timely updated map, we describe the current state of research about which factors influence evidence use in policy. A search strategy combining ‘evidence’, ‘barriers and facilitators’ and ‘policy/policymakers’ was used to identify studies across 15 electronic databases between 2012 and 2022. Studies were screened for those that include empirical data about evidence use in policy. Data extraction enabled descriptive analyses characterising studies in terms of focus, topic area, setting, and types of factors influencing use. Two thousand, one hundred and ninety-nine studies were included, a 20-fold increase over 10 years. The most commonly reported factors influencing use were the relevance of evidence, and then organisational (resources, skills, personnel and managerial support). A large number of studies reported on evidence-use interventions (n = 877) of which 379 were evaluations. Findings may indicate a shift towards relational and systemic thinking about evidence use. There appears to be a growing recognition of the resourcing, work, time, and workforce required to embed evidence use within and between organisations. With this huge growth in the literature, particularly in new evidence use interventions being tested across policy sectors, continued review and mobilisation is necessary to effectively inform the design and implementation of evidence use interventions and research.

Oliver, K., Malin, J., Akerlof, K.L. et al. What factors influence evidence use in policy? An updated systematic map. Humanities and Social Sciences Communications. (2026). 
https://doi.org/10.1057/s41599-026-08391-6

Not a citation for Hodges' model, but I am grateful to Prof. Oliver and co-authors for being able to assist with data extraction using EPPI-Reviewer Screening Wizard. The preceding patience and guidance to complete the coding tasks was also invaluable in being transferable. I learned a great deal and it has been perversely reassuring (disheartening!) to see that the path to final publication is also 'circuitous' for academics.^  An additional lesson is building on existing work and publication (Oliver, 2014) to revisit a method and research question. (Updates to follow).

Previously: 'map' : 'systematic' : 'policy'

^A conclusion, much shared I believe: academic publishing is systematically dysfunctional.

Is the Individual-Group axis health's proscenium arch?

Speech: “All the world’s a stage”

By William Shakespeare
(from As You Like It, spoken by Jaques)

          

     All the world’s a stage, 
And all the men and women merely players; 
They have their exits and their entrances; 
And one man in his time plays many parts, 
His acts being seven ages. At first the infant,
Mewling and puking in the nurse’s arms; 
And then the whining school-boy, with his satchel
And shining morning face, creeping like snail
Unwillingly to school. And then the lover,
Sighing like furnace, with a woeful ballad 
Made to his mistress’ eyebrow. Then a soldier,
Full of strange oaths, and bearded like the pard,
Jealous in honour, sudden and quick in quarrel,
Seeking the bubble reputation
Even in the cannon’s mouth. And then the justice,
In fair round belly with good capon lin’d,
With eyes severe and beard of formal cut,
Full of wise saws and modern instances;
And so he plays his part. The sixth age shifts
Into the lean and slipper’d pantaloon,
With spectacles on nose and pouch on side;
His youthful hose, well sav’d, a world too wide
For his shrunk shank; and his big manly voice,
Turning again toward childish treble, pipes
And whistles in his sound. Last scene of all,
That ends this strange eventful history,
Is second childishness and mere oblivion;
Sans teeth, sans eyes, sans taste, sans everything.

Source: https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/56966/speech-all-the-worlds-a-stage

TIME FRAMES

'As Shakespeare and his contemporaries wrote for the epic scale, the imaginative commitment and the 360-degree embrace of the Globe so, three hundred years later, generations of playwrights wrote for the velvety darkness, the enclosed acoustic and the picture framing of the proscenium arch.

For a century, the story of the changing world was told inside proscenium theatres, by a series of remarkable playwrights. In over sixty irreverent, illuminating pen portraits – of both famous giants and lesser-known talents – Dominic Dromgoole takes us on a journey from 1865 to 1965, revealing how these writers used the framed stage to reflect the social upheavals of their times.' 

This post began with: 'All the world's a stage', but I realised I'm no Shakespeare. Hodges' model is a frame; and users of the model can put it to work, readily. Be that in the sciences, arts, and across curricula. The 'arch' in Hodges' model appears to be inverted, working from within, rather than out. Similarly to the proscenium arch, however, the model provides a structure, for whatever performance, situated, will surely follow.

Hodges' model: Axes and Domains

Of course, the question posed here might be re-framed as: 

Are the axes of Hodges' model, life and death's proscenium arch?


Dominic Dromgoole (2026) Time Frames: A century of proscenium playwrights. London: Faber. 
https://www.faber.co.uk/product/9780571374113-time-frames/ [Text source].

Previously: 'drama' : 'stage' : 'frame'

Dear Editorial Office,

Dear Dr. Jones,

My name is Editorial Office, and I am writing on behalf of the selected journal. I came across your article, "A Conceptual Mapping Exercise of Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards in Residential & Community Care Using Hodges' Model and Threshold Concepts". Its focus on deprivation of liberty safeguards, Hodges' model, older adults caught our attention. I would like to invite you to consider a new and unpublished contribution to the selected journal.

For this invited contribution, we are pleased to offer a Full APC Waiver. Invited manuscripts receive priority editorial handling, and we aim to provide an initial editorial decision within one week. This invitation does not imply acceptance, and editorial standards remain unchanged.

If you are interested, a working title or short abstract is enough for an initial discussion. If your current work is not closely aligned with this journal, you are also welcome to share your present research topic and we can check whether another journal in our portfolio may be more suitable.

I would be glad to answer any questions and look forward to hearing from you.

Best regards,
Editorial Office
the selected journal

Dear Editorial Office,

Re. 'the selected journal: Invited Contribution – Full APC Waiver'

Thank you for your communication and recognition of my recent paper.

Unfortunately you have not specified the 'selected journal'. Without this detail it is difficult to proceed at all, or ascertain what benefit is provided by the 'full APC waiver'. 

I am more troubled, however by your name. Is it really 'Editorial Office'?

Again the specific journal matters here. If it is materials science, chemistry, or quantum physics or related this is (slightly?) less of a problem. Otherwise, I do worry that with Hodges' model being person-centred your being de-personalised does not sit very well with the purposes and values of Hodges' model.

It is however reassuring to learn that I should not take your invitation to suggest acceptance, and that accordingly your editorial standards remain intact - especially in these times.

Again, even if I were interested, I am at a loss to provide either a working title, or abstract.

I do hope you understand my difficulty? 

Although perhaps I ask too much.

Can it be - this IS in fact the journal?

'The Selected Journal'?

Yours Faithfully,

Mr^ P Jones

^'Conceptual Surgeon' 4th class

(and not sent.) 

Disciplines in Disarray - Scope of Practice, Disciplinary boundaries

To be in a state of disarray, is to be disarmed, without access to resources, or at least having an impaired ability to organise strategically for reasons of defence, disputation or argument. Constructive debate will be hard to achieve and so the confusion continues.

Prior to 2013 ideas for a paper with a would-be co-author began. Early that year there were 5000 words. There's probably mention of (another!) project on these pages – somewhere/when? The focus was using Hodges' model to explore 'scope of practice' in nursing. As the conceptual gift that keeps giving, Hodges' model can encompass all health disciplines, curricula, and professions, informal caring and social care too.

This post is prompt-ed (human ‘intelligence’ needs a nudge too) by ‘discussion’ on what was twitter, and currently on ‘X’. So in turn I can reflect on how relevant this paper would be today.

I still have that draft of over 5000 words. It is now woefully out-of-date. Out-of-date? Well the available job postings across the health and care sectors, have always changed. If you scan the paper copies of  Nursing Times, Nursing Standard, Nursing Mirror (anyone?) and the BMJ, The Lancet, Health Service Journal over three-four decades the evidence is clear. Then try the e-media, (and with it AI!)?

Now, for several years the impacts of  policy and change in advanced nursing practice, plus associate roles, that have also been applied in medical training and education are coming home to roost. Depending on your corner, and position in the debate there's a position called 'Noctor' (Vaughan and Kar, 2026).

I find it regrettable that consultants and 'senior' nurses have taken corners, as policy results in grossly negative examples with potentially safety consequences. There has always been a 'distance' to be bridged between health disciplines. In the past any sense of competition was usually, and so constructively patient-centred - grounded in the delivery and quality of care. The contest was tempered through mutual respect and dignity, and recognition of respective roles, knowledge, abilities and contribution to what is (and remains?) the multidisciplinary team?

Now with technology and AI in the mix, maintaining goodwill, common-sense and keeping the patient, public and future generations in sight will need a degree of diplomacy as yet not called-upon.

This made me think of the unions in the 1970s and more recent examples of work-to-rule. 

As health professionals argue between themselves, what is the cost of distraction?

Yes, that paper using Hodges' model on 'scope of practice (and theory!)' would be timely now.
In fact, it is urgently needed.

Vaughan L, Kar P. Vexatious complaints are being weaponised to discourage debate BMJ 2026; 394 :e100697 doi:10.1136/bmj-2026-100697 

Previously: 'scope' : 'publications'

Re. 'Population mental health in England, 2003–2022: Teasing apart psychological distress, mental illness and activity limitation'

Last month I was struck reading John Burn-Murdoch's regular opinion piece 'Data Points' in the FTWeekend.

This one 'What's really going on with mental health around the world?' concerned a report:

Henking, C. and Baumberg Geiger, B. (2026), 'Population mental health in England, 2003–2022: Teasing apart psychological distress, mental illness and activity limitations'. ESRC Centre for Society and Mental Health, King's College London.
https://osf.io/preprints/socarxiv/8ygrz_v2

Below I have mapped some points to Hodges' model and added others. 

By accident or not, Mr Burn-Murdoch continued this theme last weekend, discussing pandemic lockdowns and how they never ended for some people (citations below):

individual

|
INTERPERSONAL : SCIENCES             

humanistic ------------------------------- mechanistic

SOCIOLOGY : POLITICAL   

|

group

Getting stuck in a psychological minima. Becoming fixed in mindset, lack of self-development through others - empathy, rapport.  Subtle self-harm becoming more serious. What is character in the 21st C? Lack of measures. ^Lack of coherence - parity in health policy. Lack of assertiveness, self-advocacy, prone to self-stigma (non-help seeking!) Qualitative lived experience becomes self-reinforcing (and other - family?)

Getting fixed with a physique, posture - shaped by technology. Physical equivalent-complement  of 'mindset'. Getting stuck in a physical minima 'long-term'. Subtle self-harm becoming more serious. 'Systems medicalisation' PROCESSES Convenience (POLITICAL) of binary responses, e.g.  DISABLED -------- NOT DISABLED Search for 'answers' - diagnosis Search for 'solutions' interventions

Early effect of lack of external play, risk-taking with others, friends - testing - trust. Lack of social skills. Impact of social and other media - reduction of stigma. Social roles models - father-figure?  Lack of 'real' socialisation - meeting peers. Socio-Political Power, hence resort to 'sick role'. Social media - contribution to self-diagnosis.  Support inc. Social prescribing: "You're not listening! How dare you suggest walking, gardening, volunteering, discussion group .. as a way to deal with this!"

'It's life - get on with it!'  The compound effect of 'World News' on young people: cost of living; housing; cost of/access to education; employment options - related to AI; geopolitical events; climate change, state of economics since birth; COVID; housing; and isolation. 'Jobs' for teenagers? (I had a 7-day paper-round)  ^Parity of esteem (see above) Welfare traps -  especially by age xx Realisation of the importance of outdoors play. Streets being protected for children. Early Start Nursery

Imagine four characters called Harlequin meet for dinner. Halfway through another Harlequin gatecrashes the party, called spirit, then add psychiatry, anti-psychiatry, psychology, service users, policy-makers, the pharma-industry and education to the guest list and you are set for a marvellous time.

My source: John Burn-Murdoch, What's really going on with mental health around the world? FTWeekend, 11-12 July 2026, p.10.

John Burn-Murdoch, Pandemic lockdowns never ended for some people. FTWeekend, 15-16 August 2026, p.8.

Previously: 'young people' : 'mental illness' : 'behaviour' : 'Serres'

"Hey Jonesy: Where's the book?"

This prompt from yesterday is far from new. There are outlines for papers on W2tQ.

Seriously though, what would a book outline look like - now?

The introduction is probably already written, it just needs to be pulled-together. But, in truth it (desperately) needs a new perspective. The question of how to update the explanation - short of running a workshop? The model's original purposes 1-4 are a statement of fact. The intro figures that invariably show how the axes 'create' the model's care, or knowledge domains? What if...? Could we also present the inverse? That would be a new slant. Does the model still 'work'? 

Details aside, here is a quick outline:

Part 1

Introduction and Background 

1.1 Brian E. Hodges and Post-Registration Nurse Education

1.2 Peter Jones - Primed to mind-map

1.3 Web presence: Initial website 1998-2015 - Blog 'Welcome to the QUAD' 2006 ...

1.4 Brian's original lecture notes

1.5 Looking back and forward: Models of care for the 21^st Century

1.6 Confessions: So, where is the new site / platform? 

Part 2

 The Four (Five) Care Domains 

2.1 Science

2.2 Interpersonal (& Intrapersonal)

2.3 Sociology

2.4 Political

2.5 Spiritual

Part 3

Hodges' model in Practice - Applications

3.1 Self care

3.2 Clinical

3.3 Social Care - Community 

3.4 Management

3.5 Informatics

3.6 Policy 

3.7 Education

3.8 Workforce: Local - Global 

Part 4

The Legacies (still) in Our Midst

4.1 Person-centredness

4.2 Integrated Care

4.3 Holistic Care

4.4 Parity of Esteem

4.5 The Theory-Practice Gap

4.6 Change - Transformation: When? Disease to Prevention

Part 5

It's Tomorrow Now

5.1 Health Promotion

5.2 Public (Mental) Health & Protection

5.3 Citizenship

5.4 Global Health

5.5 Planetary Health

Part 6

Research

6.1 Hodges' model as a Research Tool

6.2 Climate change

6.3 Planetary Health

6.4 Beyond the Bio-Psycho-Social Model: The Political Domain

6.5 The Literacies 

6.6 InterDisciplinary, Multi- and Transdisciplinary

6.7 Hodges' model as a Mathematical Object?

Part 7

Philosophy

 

7.1 Revisiting the Original Purposes

 

7.2 AI - The Elephant in Mind

 

7.3 Value & Values  

...?

Much to add, revise ... 'Education as Part X'. Political and Literacy too - a specific part - and with AI (in every part!)?

STOP!!

OK. It's a minefield. Even a proposal is a 'non-trivial' task.

Who's writing this? Not me! Not all of it, and for me; not AI either.

It would be marvellous to be one of several editors: one day? 

Clearly, a great project for students and early career researchers and current practitioners. 

An inoculation to help new cohorts deal with the realities, ravages and rewards of 'care' in its entirety*. 

P.S. With the start of a title right there? PJ

Sometimes it can take an old model ...

 

'Sometimes it can take an old model, 
to build a new one, 
that makes the existing model obsolete.'

To borrow from Buckminster Fuller.                         

 
Resurgence & Ecologist, Sept/Oct 2020, Issue 322, p.33.

Philosophical Counselling - Reading group: Taylor 2002 'Central Value of Philosophical Counseling'

In addition to Kantian Desert (this p.m.) it is proving helpful to join a reading group on Philosophical Counselling. Being able to combine clinical and therapy experience* with philosophy is a welcome and rather overdue development. The reading for tomorrow (online for me I hope) is: 

Taylor J.S. (2002) The Central Value of Philosophical Counseling. International Journal of Philosophical Practice. 1 (2):1-9.

ABSTRACT: The title of this paper is deliberately ambiguous. It could refer either to the central value that philosophical counseling has for philosophy in general, or else it could refer to something (such as personal autonomy, or personal well-being) that philosophical counselors believe to be of value, and that they are able to help their clients pursue. In fact, this paper will be addressing both of these topics in order to demonstrate
the links that hold between them, and, in so doing, will attempt to further elucidate the nature of philosophical counseling itself.

Taylor (and related papers) also joins the dot (object?) that is Hodges' model, for example (with my emphasis):

'In this vein philosophical counseling is viewed as a Socratic drawing out of the knowledge that the client already possess, and that may be revealed through the careful questioning of a well-trained practitioner of the elenchic method.' pp.1-2.

I've long used guided discovery, by which the students (usually)/audience co-produce the model through a discussion.

'However, the difference between Socrates as a seeker after truth and the philosophical counselor as a professional who helps his or her client map out his or her own world-view in order to address particular problems that he or she is concerned with should not be overstated.' p.2.

'Furthermore—and perhaps most galling of all to philosophical counselors—academic philosophers often seem to view philosophical counseling as not being “real” philosophy at all, but more perhaps a species of social work, or an unsophisticated variant ofpsychotherapy.' p.4.

'Again, this information may be used by the counselor to help the client reflect more acutely upon her own views concerning the morality of abortion.' p.6.

'Given these two senses of “autonomy” it appears that the philosophical counselor is most concerned with enhancing autonomy in the second, Millian, sense of this concept. This is because philosophical counselors often try to aid persons in making decisions (or discoveries) about what it is that they really want to do, what their personal value-system or world-view really consists of.' p.11. 
(A contribution to person-centredness? Critical thinking is also noted by Taylor.)

 See also: https://www.igpp.org/english

 *Including, counselling, family, cognitive and behavioral therapies, plus psychosocial intervention.

Writing - next project - parts 1 & 2 in search of titles

Currently, I'm pulling together what have become two drafts, that consider Hodges' model as a mathematical object. Part 1, put-down in the new year, and picked-up now; a good start as there is more than I thought. There's a cost of that, of course? Part 2 is a gathering of tatters. Well, it is an effort.

As I don't work in academia where connections may more readily follow, can I claim that Hodges' model also does work? That the model can help in finding potential collaborators and co-authors? Once the fundamentals are understood, and again - it's not rocket science - for some people thankfully, something clicks. It clicks absolutely where it is should.

The model can be quite addictive in a positive way, as one of many among the vast array of assessment, evaluation and other tools. It is complementary.

So, with much needed support to follow, including from previous publication (please see the bibliography in the sidebar), plus April's WCCS26 conference, I'm working away to share them in 12 days or so. Then the work really begins as I benefit from collegial input, new perspectives, views, critique and the reward of constructive debate, experience and knowledge of others. I hope the drafts reward the curiosity that's been displayed. It is still quite exciting. Hoping too that students and early career researchers might pick this up ...

"It's an equation Jim, but not as we know it!"

Silver (2013) in “The Signal and the Noise” refers to Drake’s equation, which has fascinated me since my teens. It is a formula that provides a framework for predicting the number of intelligent extraterrestrial species in the galaxy. Due to the high number of parameters and uncertainties that make up Drake's equation, Silver describes how the extreme range of results depend on the initial ‘inputs’. Given the variables presented they are estimates. I made a connection to Drake's work through BBC BASIC programming:

'The Nursing Process'
'Computer-Aided Patient Assessment'
'Blood Groups'
'Shades of Grey'

As time went on the simplicity of 'The NP' gave way to DIM arrays, which can provide data structures, and DEF PROC and DEF FN with parameters. 

The evidence for the elements of Drake's equation has made great strides since the 1990s. Despite the remaining uncertainties, Silver notes that Drake's equation has provided a useful lens for astronomers, plus - philosophers and the lay-person to think about life, the universe and everything.

Is there an implicit theory – an equation – in Hodges’ model?

See also: BBC BASIC

Previously: 'Sagan' : 'SETI' ; 'math' : 'Publication list (2024)'

Nate Silver (2013). “The Signal and the Noise”, Notes 89, London: Penguin. p.488.

Title Ack. the original is often misattributed: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FCARADb9asE

Brief introduction to Hodges' model

Hodges’ model is a conceptual framework of universal value in theoretical work, practice, policy and care management. While this model is a product of the health-education sector, it is global in scope, taking in the current situation, history and future as complicated by scientific, socio-political, technology and climate change. Practice-based, Hodges’ model is a tool simple in form and yet powerful in terms of how it can help users frame the problems and opportunities of the 21st century. The model was originally taught in studies for the post-registration certificate of care of the mentally ill in the community and other courses. Student assessment included the completion of a case study (vignette), demonstrating competence in application of the model and its embedded (implicit) values.

Access to education, especially early years, is emphasised as foundational for personal and community growth and development. For individuals this can set the course for lifelong learning and an ability to contribute to society and the economy. Given this primary challenge, global institutions and policy makers point to the need for curricula that are relevant. In turn employers and industry leaders need a (global) workforce who are: 

• reflective practitioners;
• critical thinkers;
• able to see the ‘big-picture’; and focus on detail and priorities when needed (risk and triage);
• decompose a problem, but also integrate (care);
• work as team-members;
• and extend across several literacies.

These challenges are ongoing for education (being health literate, so as to address personal, social, health and economic education, and the sustainable development goals), and increasingly climate impacts.

The Sciences: Points, lines, angles and perspectives on Domains

In Hodges' model the axes are presented - by convention - as perpendicular. From this it follows that the resulting four domains, or quadrants appear as equivalent in terms of the space they each occupy. There are many posts on the blog that present a 2x2 table. When in template form Hodges' model is also a potential corpus, empty apart from its structure, then there must surely be a gross asymmetry in the SCIENCES domain compared with the others, including the SPIRITUAL. Discuss?

#simplicity #complexity #folktheory #humanities #arts #humanistic #emotion #balance

See also: https://hodges-model.blogspot.com/2026/06/h2cm-domains-symmetry.html

Arriving at Hodges' model via guided discovery ...

Following Brian Hodges’ lead in his notes, I have engaged a great many learners with a guided discussion through the following questions:

Questions	Answers	Outcome/Significance
Who do we care for?	The person, individual, patient, client, carer.The group, family, community, national/global population. The 'duty of care'. The Planet.	It is the individual (guardian) who consents to care. The subject at the top of the vertical axis of Hodges’ model is first identified. It is the person who consents to care (or their guardian); then the group occupies the bottom of the vertical axis.
What do we do to help deliver care?	We attempt - complete tasks and interact in ways that are both mechanistic and humanistic. We use procedures, equipment, devices, technologies, physical interventions; and the self – empathy, rapport listening, being present. Team work with effective communication, coordination and collaboration are also essential.	To care is to act. The horizontal axis is added, with humanistic to the reader’s left; and mechanistic to the right. The axes are then complete, revealing the model’s ‘fixed’ structure. Interdisciplinary can be identified and further discussed.
What skills and knowledge do we need to care for the individual, family and populations?	Here we are concerned with the content of the given situation. This can encompass the whole curriculum and acknowledges experiential learning.	The epistemological and ontological scope and scale of health is revealed from self to planet. The importance of context and situation can be stressed. Including first-aid and its rules and risk assessment. Discussion visits and demonstrates the significance of each of the domains of Hodges’ model and the spiritual to participants. The relevance of Hodges' model to the 21st century, as a bio-psycho-socio-POLITICAL model is emphasised.

Previously: 'Hodges' model'.

The Line(s)

Foresight, hindsight, sight itself and that illusory association with the line of time is a fascination for us all. No doubt, as a result of the hardwired analogue found in the lifeline and our ultimate fate. Hodges' model acknowledges all these lines; concrete and abstract. The work and health careers, an individual's education career (where accessible / permitted) now lifelong learning.

Abstract things seem tenuous, indistinct, maybe lost somewhere in theory. Concrete on the other hand, is physical, tangible. 

Hodges' model can cover paper with lines, two of them ideally. The model can then be applied in practice.

There is then an interplay between abstract and concrete; between which data, information and knowledge flows, uncertainty reduced. Scope and scale become clearer once assessment, planning, intervention and evaluation are concurrent.

This applies to all lines, if they are not destined to be covered in sand.

My source:  

End of The Line: how Saudi Arabia’s Neom dream unravelled, FTWeekend: 
https://ig.ft.com/saudi-neom-line/

 

See also: 'design' : 'architecture' : 'line'