Evidence

Abstract

“To see or not to see” is an allusion to the classical Shakespearean quotation “to be or not to be, that is the question.” Evidence as a concept pertains to truth, reality, and being in the world; it involves seeing, realizing, making visible, and clothing thoughts into words. A new interpretation of the concept of evidence in caring science is presented in this column, based on the etymology of the concept and Gadamer’s hermeneutical philosophy. Ontological or absolute evidence is based on being and the true reality that extends beyond the immediate reality. The truth, or the substance, lies concealed within the true reality. Evidence includes envisioning, seeing, knowing, attesting, and revising.