Abstract
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 1-11 |
| Number of pages | 11 |
| Journal | Facta Universitatis Series: Philosophy, Sociology, Psychology and History |
| Volume | 15 |
| Issue number | 1 |
| Publication status | Published - 2016 |
Keywords
- rational choice
- self-blame
- temptations
- image-management
- just world hypothesis
Cite this
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Self-deception as a weightless mask. / Khalil, Elias Lafi.
In: Facta Universitatis Series: Philosophy, Sociology, Psychology and History, Vol. 15, No. 1, 2016, p. 1-11.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › Research › peer-review
TY - JOUR
T1 - Self-deception as a weightless mask
AU - Khalil, Elias Lafi
PY - 2016
Y1 - 2016
N2 - Self-deception cuts across the behavior of persons, organizations, and states. Self-deception amounts to wearing a weightless mask: While the wearer is unaware of it, spectators usually recognize it. As soon as the wearer becomes conscious of the weightless mask, self-deception ceases to exist. This gives rise to a paradox: How could it ever be possible for the person to succeed in hiding the weightless mask from his or her own conscious self? To solve the paradox, this paper proposes that self-deception involves “two structural choices”: 1) an agent identifies the optimal decision — but the agent may fail (as a result of temptation) to choose it, which gives rise to self-blame; 2) The agent under focus may choose to invent a misleader (a lie) to make the choice appear “as if” it were optimal in order to avoid self-blame. The quest for a blameless choice makes it possible for the person to succeed in hiding the weightless mask from the conscious self. Aside from solving the Self-Deception Paradox, the proposed two-structural choice theory sheds light on three kinds of self-deception: red herring, self-rationalization, and denial.
AB - Self-deception cuts across the behavior of persons, organizations, and states. Self-deception amounts to wearing a weightless mask: While the wearer is unaware of it, spectators usually recognize it. As soon as the wearer becomes conscious of the weightless mask, self-deception ceases to exist. This gives rise to a paradox: How could it ever be possible for the person to succeed in hiding the weightless mask from his or her own conscious self? To solve the paradox, this paper proposes that self-deception involves “two structural choices”: 1) an agent identifies the optimal decision — but the agent may fail (as a result of temptation) to choose it, which gives rise to self-blame; 2) The agent under focus may choose to invent a misleader (a lie) to make the choice appear “as if” it were optimal in order to avoid self-blame. The quest for a blameless choice makes it possible for the person to succeed in hiding the weightless mask from the conscious self. Aside from solving the Self-Deception Paradox, the proposed two-structural choice theory sheds light on three kinds of self-deception: red herring, self-rationalization, and denial.
KW - rational choice
KW - self-blame
KW - temptations
KW - image-management
KW - just world hypothesis
M3 - Article
VL - 15
SP - 1
EP - 11
JO - Facta Universitatis Series: Philosophy, Sociology, Psychology and History
JF - Facta Universitatis Series: Philosophy, Sociology, Psychology and History
SN - 1820-8495
IS - 1
ER -