Skip to content
Carmelics
TopicsThinkersChangesContributorsLoading account…

    Carmelics

    A reasoning platform. Break down any belief into clear reasons, explore both sides, and weigh the evidence honestly.

    Navigate

    • Topics
    • Search
    • Recent Changes
    • Contribute
    • How It Works
    • Glossary
    • Thinkers
    • Contributors
    • About
    • Statistics
    • Terms
    • Privacy

    Database

    Statements
    —
    Perspectives
    —
    Topics
    —

    Press ? for keyboard shortcuts

    LoyalLoyalJusticeJustice
    Made withinDC&Austin
    Statements
    321,452
    Perspectives
    108,905
    Topics
    42
    Akratic action is necessarily irrational, though genuinel... — Carmelics
    Home/Moral Responsibility
    HistoryEditSee Inverse

    Akratic action is necessarily irrational, though genuinely possible.

    Free Will & Foreknowledge
    ?Rate how convincing each reason is below to see the overall strength.
    1 reason for
    2 reasons against

    Reasons For

    1 perspective
    Reason for
    ?
    • 1.Akratic action is intentional and done for a reason, so it is possible as a form of agency.
      ?

      Think about whether this reason is strong or weak

    • 2.The akratic agent has no adequate reason, by his own lights, for what he does.
      ?

      Think about whether this reason is strong or weak

    • 3.An action for which the agent has no adequate reason by his own lights is irrational.
      ?

      Think about whether this reason is strong or weak

    Reasons Against

    2 perspectives
    Reason against 1 of 2
    ?
    • 1.Donald Davidson's own account shows akratic action arises from a breakdown in the principle of continence, not from the absence of reasons.
      ?

      Think about whether this reason is strong or weak

    • 2.An agent who acts on a genuinely held, if overridden, desire possesses an adequate reason by their own lights at the moment of action.
      ?

      Think about whether this reason is strong or weak

    • 3.If the akratic agent acts on a real reason (however subordinate), the action is not strictly irrational but rather weakly rational in a partition of motivational states.
      ?

      Think about whether this reason is strong or weak

    Reason against 2 of 2
    ?
    • 1.Aristotle's account in Nicomachean Ethics VII distinguishes akrasia from irrationality by locating the failure in practical syllogism execution, not reason itself.
      ?

      Think about whether this reason is strong or weak

    • 2.An agent whose rational faculties are temporarily occluded by passion is not irrational but rather in a diminished epistemic state, analogous to the drunk or sleeping person Aristotle describes.
      ?

      Think about whether this reason is strong or weak

    • 3.Therefore akratic action may reflect a suspension of rational efficacy rather than a violation of rationality, making 'necessarily irrational' too strong a verdict.
      ?

      Think about whether this reason is strong or weak

    Sign in or register to share your perspective on this statement.

    Next step

    Based on where you are in your exploration

    Strongest counterpoint
    Explore the most compelling reason on the other side.

    Topics

    Moral ResponsibilityFree Will & Foreknowledge

    Connections

    1 topic

    Justice & Punishment1 linked

    Related

    Akratic action is intentional and done for a reason, so it is possible as a form...An action for which the agent has no adequate reason by his own lights is irrati...An agent who acts on a genuinely held, if overridden, desire possesses an adequa...An agent whose rational faculties are temporarily occluded by passion is not irr...
    +6 moreShow less
    Aristotle's account in Nicomachean Ethics VII distinguishes akrasia from irratio...Donald Davidson's own account shows akratic action arises from a breakdown in th...If the akratic agent acts on a real reason (however subordinate), the action is ...Such action is a defective and not fully intelligible instance of agency.The akratic agent has no adequate reason, by his own lights, for what he does.Therefore akratic action may reflect a suspension of rational efficacy rather th...

    Similar

    It is irrational to perform an action if that action's maxim contradic...86%If an action is not all-things-considered irrational, then that action...85%Morality is not irrational for any of those to whom it applies to foll...83%People cannot take proper action against conditions they do not recogn...82%

    Source

    AI-extracted1/3 agreementValid
    SEP: weakness-will
    View source passageHide passage
    We must put this point about the irrationality of incontinence with some care, however. For recall that an incontinent action must itself be intentional, that is, done for a reason. The weak-willed agent, then, has a reason for doing b, and does b for that reason. What he lacks—and lacks by his own lights—is a sufficient reason to do b, given all the considerations that he takes to favor a. As Davidson puts it, if we ask “what is the agent’s reason for doing [b] when he believes it would b
    Extraction notes

    Validity: Extracted via Max plan + API grounding/validity checks

    Details

    Type
    claim
    Perspectives
    3 (1 for, 2 against)
    Edits
    1 edit