Psychology as Moral Discourse

The discipline that has come to exert the greatest influence on moral formation in contemporary society is, without question, psychology. In our quest for meaning and purpose, as we search for self-understanding, we often look to psychology for answers. Indeed, in spite of the fact that psychology has made a concerted effort to remain objective and morally neutral, it has, unbeknownst to itself, persistently functioned with an unacknowledged moral “ought.” Therapists may employ a strictly clinical vocabulary; but, as scholars like Philip Cushman invite us to acknowledge, psychotherapy is a thoroughly moral discourse. At the end of the day, therapists teach patients what it means to live a good life–an inescapably ethical project. The work that falls under this tributary is dedicated to examining and reimagining what it means to take seriously the moral underpinnings of psychological science.