Self-Deception and Self-Understanding: New Essays in Philosophy and Psychology

This anthology of original essays by leading writers on self-deception explores what self-deception is, why it occurs, its significance for understanding human beings, and how overcoming it is necessary for achieving self-understanding. The contributors, distinguished philosophers and psychologists including many of the most important previously published writers on self-deception, lay the groundwork for future dialogue on the topic between scholars in the two disciplines.

The wide range of topics discussed includes self-knowledge, self-identity, self-esteem, rationality, authenticity, psychological coping, unconscious processes, excuse making, alcoholism, and weakness of will.

The extensive bibliography will be invaluable to scholars. Yet the volume is accessible enough to provide a text for upper-division courses or, for the uninitiated, a kind of road map of one of man's innermost complexities.