What Really Matters: Living a Moral Life Amidst Uncertainty

Course overview

Arthur Kleinman explores the narratives of individuals as a backdrop for his observations on how adversity affects morality and self-identity. Kleinman offers in this book a groundbreaking approach to ethics; examining personal identity and moral choices in the context of the disturbing issues of our time: war, globalization, poverty, social injustice, sex, and religion. He defines genuine reality and cultural pretense through the lives of individuals who have found themselves caught in circumstances where those things that matter most to them: status, relationships, personal resources, political and religious commitments, life itself has been challenged by the society around them. Each is caught up in existential moral experiences that define what it means to be human. Their stories reveal how malleable moral life is, and how central danger is to our worlds and our livelihood. The course discusses ethical issues surrounding the 'medicalization' of life tragedies and the role of the therapist as they confront suffering people in a world of uncertainty. Kleinman's view of ethics will provide the clinician a wealth of information to ponder.