Compassion through intercorporeality: the value of the phenomenological philosophy of David Michael Levin to social work education

Compassion is an important working concept in social work and yet it is under-researched and under-theorised. This article rigorously addresses that theoretical deficit by drawing on philosophical phenomenology to present an embodied, intercorporeal conceptualisation of compassion for application in social work education and practice. It identifies the limited points of connection, to date, between phenomenology and social work and seeks to significantly improve this situation through a focus on the work of David Michael Levin, an interpreter of the phenomenological tradition and in particular the works of Marcel Merleau-Ponty. The term ‘intercorporeality’ is taken from Levin and is introduced as an entirely original way of theorising how compassion can be embodied in social work. The article focuses on motility or the movement of the body in communication and on hearing compassionately. Levin is also presented as a phenomenologist unafraid to engage with both the political and spiritual domains. His value for social work is presented and critiqued and the potential of his conceptualisation of compassion for future social work practice is emphasised.