“Who is still there?”: phenomenological reflections on selfhood and ethical recognition in dementia care

identity shows narrative persistence despite memory loss. Merleau-Ponty's embodied subjectivity reveals selfhood expressed through gestures, emotions and habits beyond language. Levinas's ethics emphasises moral responsibility arising from vulnerability rather than cognitive reciprocity. Together, these views support shifting from cognition-based autonomy to a model grounded in narrative, embodiment and relational responsibility. Dementia reshapes, rather than erases, moral presence. Practical implications highlight how phenomenology can deepen moral attunement in clinical and familial care.