Within the context of health and social care education, attempts to define 'scholarship' have
increasingly transcended traditional academic conceptions of the term. While acknowledging
that many applied disciplines call for a kind of 'actionable knowledge' that is also not separate
from its ethical dimensions, engagement in the caring professions in particular provides an
interesting exemplar that raises questions about the nature and practice of 'actionable
knowledge:' how is such knowledge from different domains (the head, hand and heart) integrated
and sustained? This paper is theoretical and wishes to outline some philosophical ideas that may
be important when considering the characteristics of the kind of scholarship for caring practices
that draw on deep resources for creativity and integration. Firstly, there is an attempt to clarify
the nature of scholarly practice by drawing on Aristotle's notion of 'phronesis' (practical
wisdom). Secondly, a more meditative approach to the integration of knowledge, action and
ethics is highlighted. Finally, its implications for scholarship are introduced, in which scholarly
integration may best be served by more contemplative ways of being and thinking. Drawing on
Heidegger and Gendlin, we consider the challenges of contemplative thinking for pursuing
scholarly practice. We articulate contemplative thinking as an unspecialized mode of being that
is given to human beings as an intimate source of creativity. The sense in which unspecialization
can be cultivated and practiced is discussed
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