A New Approach to Addiction and Choice
eBook - ePub

A New Approach to Addiction and Choice

Akrasia and the Nature of Free Will

  1. 272 pages
  2. English
  3. ePUB (mobile friendly)
  4. Available on iOS & Android
eBook - ePub

A New Approach to Addiction and Choice

Akrasia and the Nature of Free Will

About this book

This engaging book provides a novel examination of the nature of addiction, suggesting that by exploring akrasia—the tendency to act against one's better judgement—we can better understand our addictive behaviors. It offers an alternative to the dominant biomedical model of addiction as a chronic brain disease by looking at the nature of how we make decisions and proposing the idea that biased choice is central to addiction.

The book looks at both classic substance use disorders and newer "addictions" to smartphones, meat and fossil fuels. It discusses current perspectives on free will in philosophy, psychology and neuroscience, and the questions surrounding free will versus determinism, including our ability to steer our behaviors guided by the promise of future outcomes. Different perspectives on addiction and choice are presented in an eloquent style, and illustrated by personal stories. Through a lively discussion of the key scientific and philosophical issues surrounding addiction, this book is valuable for students in psychology, criminology, sociology and social work, as well as health care professionals and general readers interested in the nature of our free will.

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Yes, you can access A New Approach to Addiction and Choice by Reinout W. Wiers in PDF and/or ePUB format, as well as other popular books in Medicine & Psychiatry & Mental Health. We have over one million books available in our catalogue for you to explore.

Information

Publisher
Routledge
Year
2024
eBook ISBN
9781040094723

Table of contents

  1. Cover
  2. Endorsements
  3. Half Title
  4. Title Page
  5. Copyright Page
  6. Contents
  7. Acknowledgments
  8. 1 Introduction
  9. 2 Akrasia, free will and addiction
  10. 3 A chronic brain disease?
  11. 4 Why addiction is (usually) not a chronic brain disease
  12. 5 Addiction as biased choice
  13. 6 Development, vulnerability and prevention
  14. 7 Pills or talk therapy?
  15. 8 Improving choice: Reward alternatives, cognitive training and mindfulness
  16. 9 Meat addiction?: Smartphones, fossil fuels and our future
  17. 10 Conclusions and lessons
  18. Person Index
  19. Subject Index