Abstract

ABSTRACT The study aimed to identify and understand, in the student's discourse, the social value and discuss it in the light of some of Max Scheler's assumptions. The senior students in Nursing take an existential place in the world, giving it meaning and sense through their opinion. The research is qualitative with a phenomenological approach. The subjects were 10 senior students from the Nursing course in Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais, Brazil. Data were collected from August to September, 2014, through interviews. Dilthey's hermeneutics was used to unveil the meaning of the statements. The social value emerged in the discourse, expressing solidarity based on sympathy. The social value was recognized as a constituent of the axiological field that founds the profession and is essential for nursing care. It is acknowledged that the "logic of reason" and the "logic of the heart" are complementary and combine the art and science of nursing.