Empirically Informed Philosophy of Mind online Seminar

Nous écouterons Juliette Vazard (University of Zürich)
titre : Despair and Diachronic Agency: Disheartening Chances and the Rational Revision of Plans
Résumé : In this paper, I add to the current debate regarding the nature and value of despair. I argue that despair should not be viewed strictly as a form of sadness (Milona and Stockdale, 2025) but rather as an emotional reaction through which we apprehend the loss of a future as likely. As such, despair is not only valuable because it provides a “reflective break” (Menges & Altehenger, 2025). Instead, it is a response of “restless apathy” which prepares us both to retreat and renounce our commitments, and to launch ‘last resort’ ‘desperate’ acts. Despair is not only valuable as an antidote to “wishful hoping” (Huber, 2024) but, more fundamentally, because it counteracts our resistance to reconsidering plans we are diachronically committed to. As beings with temporally extended agency, we form intentions that guide, monitor, and rationally control action across time (Mylopoulos & Pacherie, 2019). Despair allows us to respond to the disheartening lowering of chances of success by urgently reconsidering our plans, in spite of our inherent resistance to doing so.
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