Aim and Scope of the Work

Abstract

To care is to relate: to fellow human beings, to the environment, to the self, as individuals and members of society, consciously, existentially, and over time. Caring activities, especially child care, care for the elderly, and care for the sick and disabled, are central and integral parts of human existence. Their effective and adequate provision is a precondition for all other human undertakings, which ultimately rely on and are interwoven with caring activities. Individual competence to care is a challenge to our own humanity. But providing efficient and appropriate care to those members of society who need it is an increasingly complex task for postindustrial service economies — both empirically and theoretically.