Against Better Judgment

Winner--2022 Walker Cowen Memorial Prize Robinson Crusoe recognizes it is foolish to leave for the open seas; nevertheless, he boards the ship. William Wordsworth of The Prelude sees the immense poetic task ahead of him, but instead of beginning work, he procrastinates by going for a walk. Centering on this sort of intentionally irrational action, originally defined as " akrasia " by the ancient Greeks and "weakness of will" in early Christian thought, Against Better Judgment argues that the phe