Audi and Self Deception

Rodney Gordon (r_w_gordon@hotmail.com) -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1. What is the philosophical problem of self-deception? Just as Akrasia of actions is considered weakness of will, Akrasia of beliefs is considered self-deception. Self-deception refers to the way in which we (humans) can work our minds around something to trick ourselves into rationalising something that is irrational. It can be considered as knowing what we ought to believe, but believing something else. This leads to a problem …

…have been self-deceived. Some might say that this is an example of self-delusion rather than self-deception, but I would reply that I see self-delusion as referring to cases of self-deception in which the deception is not strong enough, or lasts long enough to really deceive the subject. Or in other words, self-deception refers to cases of self-delusion which are strong enough to carry through and effectively deceive the subject for a substantial period of time.