Image(s) courtesy History of Science Collections, University of Oklahoma Libraries; copyright the Board of Regents of the University of Oklahoma.
Prof. Neil Sinhababu, National University of Singapore
Friday, Dec. 2, 2011, 3:30 p.m. Location: Copland Hall room 246.
Desire, Action, and Pleasure
I offer an account of desire on which it has two essential
properties (1) motivating action when combined with a means-end belief
and (2) generating experiences of pleasure and displeasure when we
vividly imagine the presence or absence of what we desire, or discover
that it is more or less likely to come about. Desire does several
other things, like directing our attention and becoming more violent
when we are faced with vivid images of what we desire, but these are
psychological laws about it rather than essential properties of
desire. I consider and argue against Tim Schroeder's view that desire
is a natural-kind term whose hidden essence is constituted by the
reward system.
