How can we understand older people as real human beings, value their wisdom, and appreciate that their norms and principles both matter in themselves and are affected by those of others? Using a life-course approach, this book claims that the complexity and potential creativity of later life demands a humanistic vision of older people and ageing. This denies that older people are other than ourselves, stressing ties of recognition and concern which bind all human beings together.At the same time, it acknowledges the specificities of different experiences of older age and the diversity of meanings connected with them. It presents a range of contexts and methodologies through which such meanings can be understood. The book interprets ageing as a process of creating meaning, carried out by older people but significant for those around them, and influenced by the norms and values of their societies. It then considers the impact of social norms on older peoples capacities to age in creative ways.What real obstacles are there to older peoples construction of meaningful lives, what is going on when they feel they are ageing well?
In former times, the idea of a meaningful later life was associated with the idea of wisdom; some of its contemporary dimensions are explored here. This collection offers a lively and creative response to contemporary challenges of ageing and how to understand it. It is aimed at students, researchers, practitioners and policy-makers interested in ageing.
Introduction ~ Ricca Edmondson and Hans-Joachim von Kondratowitz; Part one: Religious belonging and spiritual questioning: a Western European perspective on ageing and religion ~ Peter G. Coleman; Spirituality: a means for achieving integration in personal and community spheres in an ageing Singapore ~ Kalyani K. Mehta; Integrating the sacred in creative ageing ~ Michele Dillon; Atheist convictions, Christian beliefs or keeping things open? Patterns of worldviews among three generations in East German families ~ Monika Wohlrab-Sahr; Beyond dialogue: entering the fourth space in old age ~ Haim Hazan; Part two: The long road to a moralisation of old age ~ Hans-Joachim von Kondratowitz; How to balance generations: solidarity dilemmas in a European perspective ~ Svein Olav Daatland; Pension systems and the challenge of population ageing: what does the public think? ~ Dina Frommert, Dirk Hofacker, Thorsten Heien and Hans-Jurgen AndreA ; The ethos of care and environment and its impact on continuity of life for older people in residential care ~ Adelina Cooney and Kathy Murphy; Engineering substantially prolonged human life-spans: biotechnological enhancement and ethics ~ Peter Derkx; Part three: Wisdom: a humanist approach to valuing older people ~ Ricca Edmondson; Social practices, moral frameworks and religious values in the lives of older people ~ Carmel Gallagher; Woo-hoo, what a ride! Older people, life stories and active ageing ~ Lorna Warren and Amanda Clarke; Does eldership mean anything in the contemporary West? ~ James Nichol; Talk about old age, health and morality ~ Outi Jolanki; Afterword: Exploring positive images of ageing: the production of calenders ~ Eileen Fairhurst and Sue Baines; Afterword: Gateways to humanistic gerontology ~ Ron Manheimer.