- Home »
- Issues »
- 14/1 - Spring 2009 »
- Articles »
How Does the Akratês Intentionally Do What He Intended Not to without Changing His Mind?
Abstract
The article discusses the concept of akrasia, which is defined as a condition when one acts contrary to his or her convictions due to weakness. The views of philosophers G. E. M. Anscombe and Aristotle about akrasia are tackled. It presents an example of akrasia in a biblical story, in which Saint Peter denied any relationship with Jesus Christ when the latter was under arrest. The feelings and views of Saint Peter, who is referred as the akratês, about his own action of infidelity to Jesus Christ are examined.
Keywords
Cite this article
Sultana, Mark. “How Does the Akratês Intentionally Do What He Intended Not to without Changing His Mind?” Forum Philosophicum 14, no. 1 (2009): 101–8. doi:10.35765/forphil.2009.1401.07.
Bibliography
Anscombe, Gertrude Elizabeth Margaret. Intention. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 2000. Anscombe, Gertrude Elizabeth Margaret. The Collected Philosophical Papers of G.E.M. Anscombe. Vol 1, From Parmenides to Wittgenstein. Oxford: Blackwell; Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 1981. Anscombe, Gertrude Elizabeth Margaret. “Thought and Action in Aristotle. What is Practical Truth?” In The Collected Philosophical Papers of G.E.M. Anscombe, vol. 1, From Parmenides to Wittgenstein: 66–77. Oxford: Blackwell; Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 1981. Aristotle. Aristotle's De Motu Animalium: Text with Translation, Commentary, and Interpretive Essays. Edited and Translated by Martha Craven Nussbaum. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1978. Wiggins, David. “Weakness of Will, Commensurability and the Objects of Deliberation and Desire.” In Essays on Aristotle’s Ethics, edited by Amélie Oksenberg Rorty, 241–266. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1980. Wittgenstein, Ludwig. Remarks on the Philosophy of Psychology. Vol. 1. Translated by Gertrude Elizabeth Margaret Anscombe. Edited by Gertrude Elizabeth Margaret Anscombe and Georg Henrik von Wright. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1980. Wittgenstein, Ludwig. Remarks on the Philosophy of Psychology. Vol. 2. Translated by C. Grant Luckhardt and Maximilian A. E. Aue. Edited by Heikki Nyman and Georg Henrik von Wright. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1980.