ABSTRACT
In ‘Being and Time’, Martin Heidegger’s conception of ‘being-in-the-world’ lays a foundation for hermeneutic phenomenology that preserves the ontological possibilities of what it is to be human. Through discussing personhood from the perspective of McCormack, McCance, and Heidegger, this chapter delineates the philosophical importance of hermeneutic phenomenology in person-centredness. The discussion is focused on the possibilities of beings in human, instead of attributing human by physical and psychological characteristics. The chapter then illustrates how the phenomenological findings of loneliness of older adults in residential care homes uncover the core values of personhood in person-centred care: being in relation, being in a social context, being in place, and being with self.
