Commitment

Much recent social commentary has argued that the modern Westernworld is suffering a crisis of commitment. Community values have given way to pick-and-mix individualistic values, the idea of a common good has been replaced with the rootless goals of individuals and corporate entities,marriage has been superseded by ?partnerhood," and commitment to acareer has been undermined by the disappearance of the job for life. Piers Benn explores whether there really is a crisis of commitment and explores the nature of commitment and whether it should matter. He considers the relationship between commitment and meaningful life and asks whether commitment must be based on truth to provide such meaning. Arguing that commitment is an important ingredient of happiness and must be reached by the rigorous exercise of our moral and rational capacities, Benn shows that achieving such commitment may be difficult.