Date of Graduation

7-2020

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Arts in Philosophy (MA)

Degree Level

Graduate

Department

Philosophy

Advisor

Eric Funkhouser

Committee Member

Warren Herold

Second Committee Member

David Barrett

Keywords

Intentionalism, Self-Deception, Self-Handicapping

Abstract

In this thesis, I present a novel example of intentional self-deception as embodied in self-handicapping behavior. Self-handicapping is the proactive construction or acquisition of some obstacle to success in some domain, and is employed by individuals primarily as a means of deflecting blame for a failure or negative outcome. I argue that this behavior stands in a mutual, symbiotic relationship to self-deception. On the one hand, self-handicapping is the behavioral instantiation of the biased evidence manipulation which facilitates self-deception; while on the other hand, self-handicapping effectively functions to bias judgments in this way only in case concurrent self-deception sustains the behavioral process. If my account is accurate, the findings support Intentionalist theories of self-deception, broadly, but also highlights behavioral self-handicapping as a phenomenon worthy of philosophical attention.

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