John Paley was formerly a senior lecturer at the University of Stirling, and is now a visiting fellow at the University of Worcester, UK. He writes on topics related to philosophy and health care, including research methods, evidence, complexity, spirituality, the post-Francis debate about compassion, and nursing ethics.

'A distinctive book, in a category all of its own. Lively, entertaining and delightfully disruptive.' – Professor Sally Thorne, University of British Columbia; Editor-in-Chief, Nursing Inquiry'Beautifully written. Clear. Logical. Focused. Persuasive. Completely fascinating.' – Martin Lipscomb, University of Worcester

• 1.Aims, methods, conventions Part I Concepts 2.Concepts, words and pictures 3.‘A noun is a naming word.’ Discuss 4.Referring without identifying or describing 5.‘The concept of…’ 6.Must there be concepts? 7.Wittgenstein, language and method Part II Words 8.‘Hope’: the basic schema 9.‘Hope’: the mass noun 10.‘Hope’: negations, modals and modifiers 11.‘Hope’ in health care 12.‘Moral distress’

John Paley was formerly a senior lecturer at the University of Stirling, and is now a visiting fellow at the University of Worcester, UK. He writes on topics related to philosophy and health care, including research methods, evidence, complexity, spirituality, the post-Francis debate about compassion, and nursing ethics.

'A distinctive book, in a category all of its own. Lively, entertaining and delightfully disruptive.' – Professor Sally Thorne, University of British Columbia; Editor-in-Chief, Nursing Inquiry'Beautifully written. Clear. Logical. Focused. Persuasive. Completely fascinating.' – Martin Lipscomb, University of Worcester

• 1.Aims, methods, conventions Part I Concepts 2.Concepts, words and pictures 3.‘A noun is a naming word.’ Discuss 4.Referring without identifying or describing 5.‘The concept of…’ 6.Must there be concepts? 7.Wittgenstein, language and method Part II Words 8.‘Hope’: the basic schema 9.‘Hope’: the mass noun 10.‘Hope’: negations, modals and modifiers 11.‘Hope’ in health care 12.‘Moral distress’