Problems of Living

Dan J. Stein is Professor and Chair of the Dept of Psychiatry at the University of Cape Town and Groote Schuur Hospital, and Director of the South African Medical Research Council’s Unit on Risk & Resilience in Mental Disorders. Dan’s training includes doctoral degrees in clinical neuroscience and in philosophy, and a post-doctoral fellowship in psychopharmacology. He is a clinician-scientist whose work has long focused on anxiety and related disorders. He has also mentored a range of other research, with publications spanning basic neuroscience, through clinical research, and on to public mental health. His research has had considerable influence (as evidenced by his h-index, perhaps the highest of any African scholar), as has his mentorship (as evidenced by the career success of his postgraduate students and fellows). Awards for his work include the International College of Neuropsychopharmacology’s Max Hamilton Award for his contributions to psychopharmacology, and its Ethics in Psychopharmacology Award.

1. Introduction 2. Brain–minds: What’s the best metaphor? 3. Reason and passion 4. The pleasures of life 5. Pain and suffering 6. The good and the bad 7. How can we know what is true, then? 8. The meaning of life 9. Conclusion: Metaphors of life