EPILOGUE:

Abstract

Philosophical reflections on Scrupulosity have revealed several important complexities about morality, religion, sainthood, character, mental illness, responsibility, and rationality. In particular, they have shown how mental illness is much more complicated than just the absence of rationality, that moral actions, character traits, and moral judgments cannot be evaluated in isolation but must be considered in context. This larger context is conveyed in therapy. The goal here was not to resolve these complexities but to illustrate how these issues are illuminated by reflecting about real psychiatric cases. These cases and reflections are instructive about how hard and sometimes subtle it is to draw a clear line between this disorder and ordinary, rational moral life.