Addiction and Weakness of Will

Lubomira Radoilska

International Perspectives in Philosophy and Psychiatry

Offers a comprehensive and systematic discussion of central issues in philosophy that are also relevant to psychiatry and law. It guides the readers in topical debates of considerable complexity in these areas and clarifies the respective rationales and underlying connections between these debates.
Presents cutting-edge research in philosophy with direct relevance to psychiatry and law.
Promotes constructive dialogue across disciplines, therefore enabling readers from different backgrounds to get acquainted with relevant developments in philosophy.
Provides useful conceptual clarifications with reference to specific case studies and assists readers in getting a handle on intricate conceptual distinctions and draws their attention to significant cases in order to further current understanding of fundamental categories.

Addiction and Weakness of Will

Lubomira Radoilska

International Perspectives in Philosophy and Psychiatry

Description

The way in which society views addiction underlies how it treats, understands, blames, or even punishes those with addictive behaviours.

This thought-provoking new book presents an original philosophical analysis bringing together addiction and weakness of will. Within the book, the author develops an integrated account of these two phenomena, rooted in a classical conception of akrasia as valuing without intending and at the same time intending without valuing. This fascinating and suggestive account addresses a number of paradoxes faced by current thinking about addiction and weakness of will, in particular the significance of control and intention for responsible action.

Addiction and Weakness of Will makes an original contribution to central issues in moral psychology and philosophy of action, including the relationship between responsibility and intentional agency, and the nature and scope of moral appraisal. The book is valuable for philosophers, ethicists and psychiatrists with an interest in philosophy.

Addiction and Weakness of Will

Lubomira Radoilska

International Perspectives in Philosophy and Psychiatry

Addiction and Weakness of Will

Lubomira Radoilska

International Perspectives in Philosophy and Psychiatry

Author Information

Lubomira Radoilska, Affiliated Lecturer, Faculty of Philosophy, Cambridge University , UK

Lubomira Radoilska's research has focused on developing a new theory of autonomous agency and exploring its implications in core areas of philosophy. She holds a doctorate in philosophy from Ecole des Hautes Etudes en Sciences Sociales (EHESS), Paris. Since 2003, she has held the following positions at the University of Cambridge: Research Fellow at Clare Hall, Director of Studies at New Hall and Downing College, and Wellcome Trust Fellow at the Faculty of Philosophy, where she is currently an Affiliated Lecturer. She is the author of 'Aristotle and the Moral Philosophy of Today' (PUF, 2007) and editor of 'Autonomy and Mental Disorder' (OUP, 2012).