Three Problems With the Addiction as Akrasia Thesis That Ethnography Can Solve

Chapter 5 considers three problems that have arisen from efforts to interpret addiction as a form of akrasia and/or weakness of the will. The first problem is that this thesis too often posits the rational unity of healthy self-control. However, healthy people exhibit varying degrees of rational unity and disunity that are often explicable sociologically. The second problem is that this thesis too often posits self-control as invariably an exercise in emotional restraint or delayed gratification. Once again, however, self-control is also exercised through self-discovery and self-actualization, which are not so obviously opposed to emotional expression, disinhibition, and personal gratification. Finally, the addiction as akrasia thesis tends to undertheorize the intrinsic relationship between experience, evaluation, and volition and the social contexts within which these are shaped.