Thanks for writing this. I think it’s missing a crucial insight about people: we have both first and second order desires. I might want to watch Toy Story 3, but I might also want to be the sort of person who wants to watch The Seventh Seal.
If my first order desire to watch Toy Story 3 wins out, I don’t think it’s right to take that as proof that I actually value watching Toy Story 3 more than I value watching The Seventh Seal. I might identify my second order desire to be the sort of person who wants to watch The Seventh Seal as the true expression of what I ultimately value. My decision to watch Toy Story 3 was weakness of will.
You’re argument in this piece is similar to Plato’s argument that there’s no such thing as akrasia: if you did it, you must think it’s good.
Note: I got these ideas about first and second order desires from Charles Taylor.
Bit slow to this, but thank you again James for an excellent comment.
You’re right. I’m assuming here, or just glossing over, in my examples that one has already done the work of aligning one’s actions to one’s true values and have overcome any akrasia. Which is completely unrealistic!
Charles Taylor… one of these people I’ve been “meaning to read” for about two decades now I should check him out.
Thanks for writing this. I think it’s missing a crucial insight about people: we have both first and second order desires. I might want to watch Toy Story 3, but I might also want to be the sort of person who wants to watch The Seventh Seal.
If my first order desire to watch Toy Story 3 wins out, I don’t think it’s right to take that as proof that I actually value watching Toy Story 3 more than I value watching The Seventh Seal. I might identify my second order desire to be the sort of person who wants to watch The Seventh Seal as the true expression of what I ultimately value. My decision to watch Toy Story 3 was weakness of will.
You’re argument in this piece is similar to Plato’s argument that there’s no such thing as akrasia: if you did it, you must think it’s good.
Note: I got these ideas about first and second order desires from Charles Taylor.
Bit slow to this, but thank you again James for an excellent comment.
You’re right. I’m assuming here, or just glossing over, in my examples that one has already done the work of aligning one’s actions to one’s true values and have overcome any akrasia. Which is completely unrealistic!
Charles Taylor… one of these people I’ve been “meaning to read” for about two decades now I should check him out.