Abstract
THE author defines pivotal values as those which, in one way or another, unify and justify life, give it coherence and make it on the whole worth living. His conception of pivotal values is the really dominant idea of his book. After a number of chapters devoted to the discussion of values from a psychological point of view, the author studies the clinical aspects of the problem. He found that aesthetic values play a small part in the lives of working-class patients. He divides pivotal values into values which are neither religious nor philosophical. We are inclined to disagree with the statement that the majority of hospital patients have no “pivotal values”. There are few people who have no pivotal values if only they can be touched on.
Human Values in Psychological Medicine.
Dr.
C. P.
Blacker
By. (Oxford Medical Publications.) Pp. viii + 179. (London: Oxford University Press, 1933.) 8s. 6d. net.
Article PDF
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Human Values in Psychological Medicine . Nature 133, 400 (1934). https://doi.org/10.1038/133400d0
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/133400d0