13.04 PD Ethical analysis of pre-commitment

Aim of the project

 This project aspires to inquire into the normativity of pre-commitment devices – strategies that make it costly or impossible to fall prey to temptation by restricting the set of available options. More specifically, it is interested in whether the employment of pre-commitment devices can help solve so-called collective action problems and self-destructive behaviours. It does so by, first, providing a conceptualization of pre-commitment devices and the different types of pre-commitment devices available to the individual. Second, it inquiries into the normativity of pre-commitment devices at three different levels: micro, meso, and macro. At the micro level, it investigates whether individuals should employ pre-commitment devices (and which ones) to direct and steer their individual behaviours. It highlights the benefits and drawbacks of employing these devices from the perspective of morality and rationality. At the meso level, it investigates the normativity of pre-commitment devices in interpersonal settings. That is, it inquires whether it is permissible (and desirable) to use pre-commitment devices between individuals to direct a person’s behaviour in a way that possibly solves or at least diminishes the disastrous outcomes of self-destructive behaviours and collective action problems. Lastly, the project aims to build on the insights acquired from the analysis carried out at the micro and meso level to analyse the macro level. That is, it aims to evaluate whether it is desirable to use pre-commitment devices (and which ones) in institutional settings. 

Theoretical background

Main themes 

The project will address five main themes: 

1. (Dis)analogy between collective action problems and self-destructive behaviour. This strand of the project aims to understand whether the similar structure of collective action problems and self-destructive behaviours warrants that solutions to one problem can be transferred to the other. It argues that it does not. Indeed, many solutions to self-destructive behaviours appeal to an individual’s privileged authoritative standpoint over herself, while many solutions to collective action problems invoke that the individual has no privileged vantage point over herself as opposed to others.
2. Axiological mathematics (co-authored). If one accepts that value calculations should follow given rules when applied to calculations between individuals, then, it seems, the same rules should apply to cases of calculations of value within an individual. And yet, interesting puzzles arise when analysing the most common positions of value aggregation among individuals and within an individual. The most intuitive positions, indeed, seem to pull in different directions when applied to intrapersonal cases as opposed to interpersonal ones. This strand of the project investigates what, if anything, justifies the asymmetry between these intuitions.
3. Resoluteness and rigidity. Being resolute is usually understood as a virtue of rationality. Indeed, resoluteness arguably allows one to avoid behaviours that lead to self-destructive outcomes. However, a neglected – and yet important – characteristic of resoluteness is that it could lead to rigidity, which becomes a vice of rationality, as and when it prevents a person from successfully attaining the wide range of her ends. By better understanding the rational status of resoluteness – and the consequent rigidity that may ensue from it – this strand of the project aspires to conceptualise how, if at all, these insights translate to the evaluation of resoluteness – and the ensuing rigidity – as a moral vice or virtue. This investigation may shed light on the growing discussion on whether grit (and the ability to quit) is rational, and it could also inquire into its moral status.
4. The Philosophy and Economics of Kantian Ethics (co-authored). Recent work in economics has attempted to model Kantian reasoning in interactive settings. Authors contributing to this strand of the literature have argued that modelling individuals’ preferences or response strategies by appealing to Kantian morality can solve collective action problems and capture considerations that are relevant for real-life economic agents. This strand of the project aspires to bridge the gap between the philosophical literature on Kantian ethics and it supposed economic counterpart. It investigates the relevant differences and similarities between the two literatures.
5. Inter- and Intrapersonal Pre-commitment. Pre-commitment strategies – behaviours that make it costly or impossible to choose a course of action – can be effective safeguards against weakness of will. This strand of the project investigates whether, if at all, the rational and moral desirability of pre-commitment changes depending on whether it is used to prevent self-destructive behaviour or collective