The Thief of Time: Philosophical Essays on Procrastination
Chrisoula Andreou and Mark D. White
Abstract
When we fail to achieve our goals, procrastination is often the culprit. But how exactly is procrastination to be understood? It has been described as imprudent, irrational, inconsistent, and even immoral, but there has been no sustained philosophical debate concerning the topic. This volume starts in on the task of integrating the problem of procrastination into philosophical inquiry. The focus is on exploring procrastination in relation to agency, rationality, and ethics—topics that philosophy is well suited to address. Theoretically and empirically informed analyses are developed and applie ... More
When we fail to achieve our goals, procrastination is often the culprit. But how exactly is procrastination to be understood? It has been described as imprudent, irrational, inconsistent, and even immoral, but there has been no sustained philosophical debate concerning the topic. This volume starts in on the task of integrating the problem of procrastination into philosophical inquiry. The focus is on exploring procrastination in relation to agency, rationality, and ethics—topics that philosophy is well suited to address. Theoretically and empirically informed analyses are developed and applied with the aim of shedding light on a vexing practical problem that generates a great deal of frustration, regret, and harm. Some of the key questions addressed include the following: How can we analyze procrastination in a way that does justice to both its voluntary and its self-defeating dimensions? What kind of practical failing is procrastination? Is it a form of weakness of will? Is it the product of fragmented agency? Is it a vice? Given the nature of procrastination, what are the most promising coping strategies?
Keywords:
agency,
coping strategies,
ethics,
imprudence,
procrastination,
rationality,
regret,
self-defeating behavior,
vice,
weakness of will
Bibliographic Information
| Print publication date: 2010 |
Print ISBN-13: 9780195376685 |
| Published to Oxford Scholarship Online: May 2010 |
DOI:10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195376685.001.0001 |
Authors
Affiliations are at time of print publication.
Chrisoula Andreou, editor
University of Utah
Author Webpage
Mark D. White, editor
College of Staten Island, CUNY
Author Webpage
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