Akrasia
- “why do I do things I know are bad for me”
- “what is akrasia”
- “weakness of will philosophy”
- “akrasia vs procrastination”
:: COMPARE ::
AkrasiavsProcrastination
The short answer
Procrastination is a delay; akrasia is a contradiction. Standard definitions of procrastination already build the irrationality in — delaying while expecting to be worse off for it — but akrasia demands more: the verdict has to be live, present, and contradicted at the moment you act. Whether procrastination is therefore a species of akrasia is genuinely argued over.
Side by side
| Aspect | Akrasia | Procrastination |
|---|---|---|
| Failure of | Reason | Self-regulation |
| Verdict is | Live and contradicted | Present but not live |
| Timing | At the moment | Over time |
| Puzzling | Yes | Irrational, but explained |
Which one you meant
Readers who land here meaning Akrasia rather than Procrastination are usually searching for phrases like “why do I do things I know are bad for me”, “what is akrasia”, “weakness of will philosophy”.
Where the confusion comes from
“Akrasia is a fancy word for procrastination or laziness.”
It's much narrower and stranger: acting against your own all-things-considered judgement at the time of acting, with the judgement still in view. The critical element is an agent who simultaneously holds an evaluative judgement favouring a different action while intentionally pursuing an alternative. Putting off a task because you'd rather not is often just an unexamined preference — not akrasia at all.
Read either one in full