ABSTRACT
This chapter explores the view that many cases of irrational action involve a crucial lack of self knowledge, some kind of failure to identify, appreciate and understand one’s own desires, beliefs and attitudes. It examines the process of deliberation that produces the crucial final general judgement about what on balance ought to be done. The chapter aims to distinguish various ways in which the judgement may be defective — there is ignorance or misunderstanding, a lack of attention, self deception, a failure to spell things out, and so on. It explains failures in deliberation that are due to an incomplete awareness of one’s desires and beliefs. The chapter considers an interesting failure that is certainly not due to incomplete awareness, but is rather due to a certain kind of failure to articulate or acknowledge that awareness.
