The Ethics of the Staircase

Drawing on the ethics of E. Levinas in ‘Transcendence and Height’ and the embodiment of the ethical encounter, the chapter presents the staircase as a learning-case that reflects the dependency of frail elderly persons after hospitalization on being met by the ‘welfare Others’ in ways that afford ‘transcendence and height’, i.e. resurrection and hope of returning home and to oneself. In particular, when the present situation of the elderly person and his/her prospects for the future are related to loss and fundamental change. Patient care pathways of elderly persons are indeterminate and subjunctive with uncertain dimensions of care. These uncertainties add to the frailty of elderly persons and draw critical attention to the organization of care pathways. In the story about Ben’s transition to home, the staircase demonstrates the importance of ethical judgment as a sensibility towards ‘the Good’ in the face of the embodied Other. Thus, this chapter claims that phenomenology with imagistic dimensions of care opens up an ethical sensibility in decisions on the elderly persons’ return to home and needs of self-care.