Single Idea 20589

[catalogued under 16. Persons / B. Nature of the Self / 6. Self as Higher Awareness]

Full Idea

A second-order desire is a desire about what kind of desires you want to have. ....Some philosophers have argued that we should associate a person's second-order desires with her 'true self'.

Gist of Idea

Maybe a person's true self is their second-order desires

Source

Tuckness,A/Wolf,C (This is Political Philosophy [2017], 2 'What is')

Book Reference

Tuckness,A / Wolf,C: 'This is Political Philosophy' [Wiley Blackwell 2017], p.35


A Reaction

Presumably the buck stops at these second-order desires, though we might request an account of their origin. 'What sort of person do I want to be?' looks like a third-order question. I don't even want to be a saint. Self is nothing to do with desires?