Abstract

A painstaking study of the problem of akrasia, from its early thematizations in Socrates and Euripides, who represent the early and late positions of Plato, to Aristotle's labors with it: labors which failed to issue in a satisfactory or even consistent result. Akrasia is treated, of course, as a touchstone for the more embracing questions of reason, practical wisdom, action, etc. Walsh deals minutely with the primary materials, and also investigates current interpretations. It is argued that "the absence of the concept of will" prevents Aristotle from overcoming his confusions. A valuable discussion of the authorship of Nicomachean Ethics, Book VII, chapter 3 is appended.—C. D.