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    Carmelics

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

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    LoyalLoyalJusticeJustice
    Made withinDC&Austin
    Statements
    321,452
    Perspectives
    108,905
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    42
    Home/Original/inverse
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    Inverse View

    It is not the case that Akratic action is necessarily irrational, though genuinely possible.

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    Reasons For

    2 perspectives
    Reason for 1 of 2
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    • 1.Donald Davidson's own account shows akratic action arises from a breakdown in the principle of continence, not from the absence of reasons.
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    • 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.
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    • 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.
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    Reason for 2 of 2
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    • 1.Aristotle's account in Nicomachean Ethics VII distinguishes akrasia from irrationality by locating the failure in practical syllogism execution, not reason itself.
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    • 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.
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    • 3.Therefore akratic action may reflect a suspension of rational efficacy rather than a violation of rationality, making 'necessarily irrational' too strong a verdict.
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    Reasons Against

    1 perspective
    Reason against
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    • 1.Akratic action is intentional and done for a reason, so it is possible as a form of agency.
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    • 2.The akratic agent has no adequate reason, by his own lights, for what he does.
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    • 3.An action for which the agent has no adequate reason by his own lights is irrational.
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    Strongest counterpoint
    Explore the most compelling reason on the other side.