In Practice

A Practicing Doctor's Views on Psychiatry and Contemporary Culture.

Peter D. Kramer is a psychiatrist and author. His books include Against Depression and Listening to Prozac. See full bio

October 9, 2009, Morality

Nobelobama: Yes, You Can!

What do these Scandinavians have in mind?

past nobel medal What do these Scandinavians have in mind?

I heard the news this morning as I drove out to my usual bicycling route. On NPR, Elie Wiesel was sounding gracious but befuddled, as if it were he who had been wakened with incomprehensible news. Then I was off pedaling, so I got to digest the announcement without exposure to commentary.

With patients who are indecisive about commitment, I find myself asking them what a given act means. Moving in, buying a house together, marrying - do these choices say that you must enter a fixed gender role, live forever in the same city, agree to sex on demand, enjoy the same movies? I think about language and Wittgenstein's example of the game, a seemingly straightforward concept that eludes explicit definition, because as humans we play with concepts, use them in all sorts of ways. They may have core functions and meanings, but finally institutions are tools that serve our purposes.

What is an award? Today, it seems a means for calling out to a powerful man surrounded by advisors, immersed in daily negotiations, caught up in the confusion that is America. The Committee (in my imagination) was offering pointed reminders: "Remember where you come from." "We, the wider world, are your constituents, too." The members seemed also to be giving encouragement: "Be the person we hope you are." And, "Stay the course."

Implicitly, the award is a rebuke to George W. Bush and the Republicans. In a strange way - can an award serve this function? - it acts as a rebuke to Obama as well. The Scandinavians know that he is committed to waging war in Afghanistan, to renewing the Patriot Act, to behaving altogether like a cautious American politician. An award can stand as congratulations for attempts and achievements. Here, it seems a gesture pointing in a direction: Yes, you can.