my understanding Plato claims "all men desire the Good", however they may be wrong in regard to what is Good. This also holds close relation to the what part of our being rules the others (reason, desire and spirit), which may cause us to develop a wrong understanding of what is Good — Tzeentch
Thanks for this and your practical elaboration. Real life examples help.
[ An aside: As someone who has started but not finished Plato's Republic, I understand that there are different translations and interpretations of his work.
May I ask if you have a favourite translator and have you read any of the commentaries ? ]
I have to say I was surprised to read that Socrates, in the play, denies the existence of weakness of will.
I will have to read Protagorus to examine the context.
However, from this SEP article:
https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/weakness-will/
'''No one,” he declared, “who either knows or believes that there is another possible course of action, better than the one he is following, will ever continue on his present course” (Protagoras 358b-c). And philosophers have been wrestling with the issue ever since. It is not surprising that weakness of will has such a long and distinguished pedigree as a topic of philosophical discussion: it is both an intrinsically interesting phenomenon and a topic rich in implications for our broader theories of action, practical reasoning, rationality, evaluative judgment, and the interrelations among these.
My own feeling is that I would love for akrasia not to exist because then who could then judge another for it ! Perhaps they would just call it by another name. Stupidity ? Irrational ?
Here's another view from the SEP article:
'Michael Bratman, for instance, introduces us to Sam, who, in a depressed state, is deep into a bottle of wine, despite his acknowledged need for an early wake-up and a clear head tomorrow. Sam's friend, stopping by, says:
“Look here. Your reasons for abstaining seem clearly stronger than your reasons for drinking. So how can you have thought that it would be best to drink?” To which Sam replies: “I don't think it would be best to drink. Do you think I'm stupid enough to think that, given how strong my reasons for abstaining are? I think it would be best to abstain. Still, I'm drinking.” (1979, p. 156)'