CEPL 0920 - The Power of Temptation and the Weakness of Will

Institution:

Brown University

Subject:

Description:

The social psychologist Roy Baumeister said, “Self-regulation failure is the major social pathology of the present time.” The economy is in crisis because people have been borrowing and spending irresponsibly; our health care system is burdened in part because people eat too much and do not exercise; we have recovery groups for drug-abuse, compulsive gambling, sex addiction, and even excessive internet use. We appear to be a country losing to temptation. And yet the very idea that we can freely and knowingly act against our own best judgments can seem puzzling. In this course, we will examine the following questions pertaining to weakness of will: How, if at all, is weakness of will possible? Do we give into temptation freely or are we moved by irresistible desires? What is the relationship between motivation and evaluation? Is it always irrational to act against your best judgments? Is being too self-controlled a vice? We will adopt an interdisciplinary approach to these questions. While most of the readings will be drawn from philosophers dating from Plato to the present day, we will also read articles by psychologists and economists. Students enrolling in this course will be taught basic analytic tools to dissect and evaluate complex arguments from a variety disciplines.

Credits:

0.00

Credit Hours:

Prerequisites:

Corequisites:

Exclusions:

Level:

Instructional Type:

Lecture

Notes:

Additional Information:

Historical Version(s):

Institution Website:

www.brown.edu

Phone Number:

(401) 863-1000

Regional Accreditation:

New England Association of Schools and Colleges

Calendar System:

Semester

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