Re-envisioning the Resilient Individual: Reflections on the Science of Human Adaptation in Light of Paul Ricoeur and Julian of Norwich

Abstract

This thesis engages the concept of resilience in light of the disciplines of social science, philosophy, and theology. Viewing resilience through these lenses presents the possibility of ‘re-envisioning’ human responses to adversity in ways that both question assumptions underlying resilience and corroborate current research. Social science data are foundational for understanding factors significant in human resilience to adversity, but may be further ‘thickened’ through narrative accounts of human being. Attention to the hermeneutic phenomenology of Paul Ricoeur provides insight into both the ‘surplus of meaning’ possible through narrative and human identity formed in relation to the Other. These take on added significance when understood in light of the narrative of the Christian Gospel that discloses meaning through relation to the self-giving God. Julian of Norwich serves as an example of the meaningfulness of the Gospel narrative, known through a personal experience of Divine love.

Thus, the resilient individual may be re-envisioned through the transformative narrative of the Gospel. A renewed understanding of personhood situates responses to adversity within the meaningfulness of the ‘world’ projected by this narrative. Through participation in the narrative of the Gospel, the love of God engenders human resilience by creating meaning and connection in an environment of eschatological hope.