Motivational pessimism and motivated cognition

Synthese 203 (4):1-18 (2024)
  Copy   BIBTEX

Abstract

I introduce and discuss an underappreciated form of motivated cognition: motivational pessimism, which involves the biasing of beliefs for the sake of self-motivation. I illustrate how motivational pessimism avoids explanatory issues that plague other (putative) forms of motivated cognition and discuss distinctions within the category, related to awareness, aetiology, and proximal goals.

Categories

Keywords

Reprint years

DOI

10.1007/s11229-024-04546-7

Links

PhilArchive

External links

Setup an account with your affiliations in order to access resources via your University's proxy server

Through your library

My notes

Similar books and articles

Internalism and Pessimism.Casey Doyle - 2019 - Journal of Moral Philosophy 16 (2):189-209.
Future Tests of Motivated Distance Perception From Multiple Perspectives.Emily Balcetis - 2016 - Emotion Review 8 (2):133-135.
Reconsidering the Meta‐ethical Implications of Motivational Internalism and Externalism.Ragnar Francén - 2020 - Theoria 86 (3):359-388.
Clearing conceptual space for cognitivist motivational internalism.Danielle Bromwich - 2010 - Philosophical Studies 148 (3):343 - 367.
The nature of inclination.Tamar Schapiro - 2009 - Ethics 119 (2):229–256.
Internalists Relax: We Can’t All Be Amoralists!Michael Ridge - 2019 - Philosophia 47 (3):845-850.
Adult age differences in remembering gain- and loss-related intentions.Sebastian S. Horn & Alexandra M. Freund - 2021 - Cognition and Emotion 35 (8):1652-1669.
The skeptical import of motivated reasoning: A closer look at the evidence.Maarten van Doorn - 2023 - Thinking and Reasoning 1 (1):1-31.
How Humeans can make normative beliefs motivating.William Ratoff - 2020 - Philosophical Studies 178 (4):1245-1265.
Moral Reason, Moral Sentiments and the Realization of Altruism: A Motivational Theory of Altruism.JeeLoo Liu - 2012 - Asian Philosophy 22 (2):93-119.
A Bayesian Solution to Hallsson's Puzzle.Thomas Mulligan - 2023 - Inquiry: An Interdisciplinary Journal of Philosophy 66 (10):1914-1927.
Self-deception as pseudo-rational regulation of belief.Christoph Michel & Albert Newen - 2010 - Consciousness and Cognition 19 (3):731-744.
A motivational systems approach to investigating opinions on climate change.Daniel C. Molden, Robin Bayes & James N. Druckman - 2022 - Thinking and Reasoning 28 (3):396-427.
Pro Mundo Mori? The Problem of Cosmopolitan Motivation in War.Lior Erez - 2017 - Ethics and International Affairs 31 (2):143-165.
Imagination and the motivational view of belief 55.George F. Schumm - unknown

Analytics

Added to PP
2024-02-23

Downloads
145 (#129,070)

6 months
145 (#24,157)

Historical graph of downloads
How can I increase my downloads?

Author's Profile

Stephen Gadsby
University of Antwerp

Citations of this work

No citations found.

Add more citations

References found in this work

Self-Deception Unmasked.Alfred R. Mele - 2001 - Princeton University Press.
What Is the Function of Confirmation Bias?Uwe Peters - 2022 - Erkenntnis 87 (3):1351-1376.

View all 29 references / Add more references