The Way We Were: The Ascendance of Rationalism

Abstract

This is the last in a series of three articles that report the findings of a study that explored the history of the ideas that pioneering occupational therapistsin the United Kingdom held about physical objects. Based on an analysis of references to objects in occupational therapy literature published between 1938 and 1962, it revealed the profession's rational and Romantic underpinnings. The first article described the assumptions rooted in Romanticism and the Arts and Crafts Movement philosophies. The second article explored occupational therapists' rational systematising of knowledge. The focus of this final article is how rationalism came to predominate over Romantic ideals, as the realism of using crafts to transform individuals was pitted against the urgent need to rebuild the nation after World War II. Contributing circumstances, particularly the lack of a research method to explore subjective experiences and outcomes, are identified and the consequences in relation to the balance of the profession's current knowledge base are proposed.