Breaking one's dieting rule or resolution to quit smoking,
procrastination, convenient lies, even the failure of entire nations
to follow through with plans to cut greenhouse gas emissions or keep a
pandemic in check - these phenomena have been discussed by
philosophers and behavioural scientists as examples of weakness of
will and delay discounting. Despite the common subject matter both
fields have to date rarely worked together for mutual benefit. For the
empirical literature is hardly accessible to a reader not familiar
with econometric theory; and researchers in the behavioural sciences
may find philosophical accounts invoking discounting models difficult
to understand without inside knowledge of the debates and historical
background. Nora Heinzelmann targets this lacuna by making the ideas
and findings from both disciplines intelligible to outsiders. This
reveals that discounting - as philosophers have conceived of it - is
neither necessary nor sufficient for weakness of will, even though
there is substantial overlap. Heinzelmann develops a richer
descriptive account of weakness of will that is based on the
empirically founded assumption that weak-willed behaviour is
determined by uncertainty about whether or when a good materialises.
She also explains why weakness of the will understood in this way is
irrational: the agent yields to a cognitive bias that leads them to
underestimate the greater good they think they ought to and can
obtain. Finally, she explores practical implications for individuals
and policymakers.
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Produktdetaljer
ISBN
9780192690722
Publisert
2023
Utgave
1. utgave
Utgiver
Oxford University Press Academic UK
Språk
Product language
Engelsk
Format
Product format
Digital bok
Forfatter