ABSTRACT
A m erican culture . . . has responded to the anxieties of grow ing old w ith a psychologically p rim itive strategy of sp litting im ages of a "good" old age of health and virtue, self-reliance, an d salvation from a "bad" old age of sickness, sin, dependency, p rem ature dea th and dam nation . Rooted in the drive for un lim ited ind iv idua l ac cum ulation of health an d w ealth , this dualism has h indered our cu ltu re 's ability to sustain m orally com pelling social practices and existential vital ideals of ageing. (R 230)
Ageing, like illness and death , reveals the m ost fundam ental conflict of the hu m an condition: the tension betw een infinite am bitions, dream s, and desires on the one hand , and vulnerable, lim ited, de caying physical existence on the o ther-the tragic and eradicable conflict betw een spirit and body. (p. 239).
