Surrounding Self-Control

Self-control has gained enormous attention in recent years both in philosophy and the mind sciences, for it has profound implications on so many aspects of human life. Overcoming temptation, improving cognitive functioning, making life-altering decisions, and numerous other challenges all depend upon self-control. But recent developments in the philosophy of mind and in action theory, as well as in psychology, are now testing some of the assumptions about the nature of self-control previously held on purely a priori grounds. New essays in this volume offer fresh insights from a variety of angles: neuroscience; social, cognitive, and developmental psychology; decision theory; and philosophy. While much of the literature on self-control is spread across distinct disciplines and journals, this volume presents for the first time a thorough and truly interdisciplinary exploration of the topic. The essays address four central topics: what self-control is and how it works; temptation and goal pursuit; self-control, morality, and law; and extending self-control. They take up an array of complex and important questions. What is self-control? How is self-control related to willpower? How does inhibitory control work? What are the cultural and developmental origins of beliefs about self-control? How are attempts at self-control hindered or helped by emotions? How do our beliefs about our own ability to deal with temptation influence our behavior? What does the ability to avoid temptation depend on? How should juvenile responsibility be understood, and how should the juvenile justice system be reformed? Can an account of self-control help us understand free will? Combining the most recent scientific research with new frontiers in the philosophy of mind, this volume offers the most definitive guide to self-control to date.

Table of Contents:
1. Introduction Alfred R. Mele Part I. What is Self-Control and How Does it Work? 2. The Long Reach of Self-Control Roy F. Baumeister, Andrew J. Vonasch, and Hallgeir Sjåstad 3. The Developmental and Cultural Origins of Our Beliefs About Self-Control Adrienne Wente, Xin Zhao, Alison Gopnik, Carissa Kang, and Tamar Kushnir 4. Self-Control as a Coordination Problem Asael Y. Sklar and Kentaro Fujita 5. Self-Control as Hybrid Skill Myrto Mylopoulos and Elisabeth Pacherie 6. Inhibitory Control and Self-Control Alejandra Sel and Joshua Shepherd 7. Exploring the Roles of Emotions in Self-Control Andrea Scarantino 8. Children, Responsibility for Self-Control Failures, and Narrative Capacity Meghan Griffith 9. Mind Control: Self-Control and Decision-Making Marcela Herdova and Stephen Kearns Part II. Temptation and Goal Pursuit 10. Self-Control, Agency and the Placebo Brain Stimulation: Psychological and Philosophical Perspectives Davide Rigoni, Naomi Vanlessen, Rossella Guerini, Mario De Caro, and Marcel Brass 11. Framing Temptations in Relation to the Self: Acceptance and Alienation Eric Funkhouser and Jennifer C. Veilleux 12. Shaping Our Mental Lives: On the Value of Mental Self-Control and Mental Self-Regulation Dorothea Debus 13. Resist or Yield? What to do with Temptations? Bence Nanay Part III. Self-Control, Morality, and Law 14. Moralizing Self-Control Marlon Mooijman, Peter Meindl, and Jesse Graham 15. Achieving Goals by Imposing Risk Katherine Hawley 16. Self-Control and Deliberate Ignorance: On Ignoring Information We Ought to Know and Processing Information We Shouldn't Sammy Basu and James Friedrich 17. Self-Control, Co-Operation, and Intention's Authority Lilian O'Brien 18. Juvenile Self-Control and Legal Responsibility: Building a Scalar Standard Tyler K. Fagan, Katrina Sifferd, and William Hirstein Part IV. Extending Self-Control 19. Framing as a Mechanism for Self-Control: Rationality and Quasi-Cyclical Preferences José Luis Bermúdez 20. Empathetic Self-Control David Shoemaker 21. Negligence and Social Self-Governance Manuel R. Vargas 22. Frankfurt and the Problem of Self-Control Ryan Cummings and Adina L. Roskies 23. Self-Control, Mental Time Travel and the Temporally Extended Self Erica Cosentino