Rethinking Self-Control

Research on self-control in both philosophy and psychology is thriving. Yet despite a wealth of recent philosophical work on the exercise of self-control, there has been surprisingly little empirically informed work in philosophy on self-control as a psychological trait. This book aims to fill this gap.

Matthew C. Haug is an associate professor of philosophy at William & Mary. He works on issues in philosophy of mind, philosophy of science, moral psychology, and related areas. He is the editor of Philosophical Methodology: The Armchair or the Laboratory? (Routledge, 2014).

1. Introduction 2. Self-Regulation and Self-Control 3. Self-Control-Related Traits 4. Contradictions in Continence 5. Tensions in Temperance 6. High Trait Self-Control and the Indirect Harmony Hypothesis 7. Self-Control, Executive Function, and Effort 8. Self-Control-Related Traits and Human Excellence 9. Conclusion