From Morality to Mental Health

Morality and mental health are now inseparably linked in our view of character. Alcoholics are sick yet they are punished for drunk driving. Drug addicts are criminals but their punishment can be court ordered therapy. The line between character flaws and personality disorders has become fuzzy with even the seven deadly sins seen as mental disorders. In addition to pathologizing wrong-doing we also psychologize virtue; self-respect becomes self-esteem integrity becomes psychological integration and responsibility becomes maturity. Moral advice is now sought primarily from psychologists and therapists rather than philosophers or theologians. In this wide-ranging accessible book Mike W. Martin asks: are we replacing morality with therapy in potentially confused and dangerous ways or are we creatively integrating morality and mental health? According to him it''s a little bit of both. He surveys the ways in which morality and mental health are related touching on practical concerns like love and work self-respect and self-fulfillment guilt and depression crime and violence and addictions. Terming this integrative development the therapeutic trend in ethics Martin uses examples from popular culture various moral controversies and draws on a line of thought that includes Plato the Stoics Freud Nietzsche and contemporary psychotherapeutic theories. Martin develops some interesting conclusions among them that sound morality is indeed healthy and that moral values are inevitably embedded in our conceptions of mental health. In the end he shows how both morality and mental health are inextricably intertwined in our pursuit of a meaningful life. This book will be of interest to philosophers psychologists psychiatrists and sociologists as well as the general reader.