ABSTRACT
The three approaches to decisionmaking that we have just reviewed have one characteristic in common. They proceed much too abstractly, as if something useful can be said about dilemmas and choices even before we know what a particular person’s dilemma is. This may not be a serious problem, but we need to correct for the abstract analyses of the previous chapter by immersing ourselves again in the details of everyday life and the complicated twists and turns of individual life histories. We start by considering the nature of adult life structures and the roles that life choices play in setting them up. First, we need a fuller picture of what is meant by a life structure.
