This study is composed of a series of theoretical reflections inspired by empirical research into the ethical dilemmas of life in contradiction-ridden postmodern America. Adopting a phenomenological orientation toward their own situated, lifecourse experience, the authors dedicate chapters to subjects such as hospital birth, special education, Gen X, community-based anti-crime policy, public intellectuals, and mass death. Drawing primarily from the tradition of Frankfurt School critical theory, and inspired in particular by Theodore W. Arno's post-war aphorism, "wrong life cannot be lived rightly, " this volume seeks to contribute to the project of an empirical critical theory (sociology) as a postmodern ethic.