This dissertation focuses on questions regarding the metaphysical and psychological possibility of self-deception and attempts to show that self-deception is a phenomenon best characterized as both motivated and intentional, such that self-deceivers can be held responsible for their deceptions in a stronger sense than that of being merely epistemically negligent. In Chapter One, I introduce the paradoxes of self-deception, which arise when one attempts to draw a close analogy between self- and other-deception, and I discuss the various ways in which one might characterize an unwarranted belief as irrational. I go on to show how the various ways one understands interpersonal deception may mirror the various accounts one might give of self-deception. I concluded the chapter with a brief discussion of the role of empirical studies in philosophical investigations of irrationality. In Chapter Two, I look more closely at a particular kind of intentionalist account of self-deception, namely the claim that we must suppose the existence of a partitioned mind to make sense of the so-called "internal irrationality" of the self-deceiver. I discuss both stronger and weaker versions of this theory, in an attempt to show that it tends to raise more metaphysical worries than it solves. I argue further that if there is such a thing as divisions within the mind, an account of self-deception centered around such divisions will not get the intentionalist about self-deception what he or she wants. In Chapter Three, I move on to discuss non-intentionalist accounts of self-deception. Such theories have gained in popularity in recent years, due to their appeals to explanatory parsimony. Against these theories, I argued that there are certain phenomenon we take to be central to self-deception that Mele, Barnes, et al. cannot account for. I therefore propose that a more robust account of self-deception is necessary to make sense of these phenomena. Chapter Four attempts to provide such an account. I claim that if we focus more heavily on the diachronic process by which self-deceivers elicit and/or maintain their beliefs over time, what emerges looks much more like an intentional project aimed at the manipulation of one's evidence or evidential standards than a mere more-or-less unconscious process of motivated biasing. I suggest that such a view can escape the paradoxes of self-deception, while at the same time making sense of the features lacking on non-intentionalist accounts. Finally, in Chapter Five I examine the morality of self-deception. I argue that self-deceivers are not only epistemically but also morally responsible for their self-deceptions, and that self-deception generally represents a moral failure on the part of the moral agent, regardless of the normative moral theory one adopts.

Self-appraisals of performance are traditionally lenient and inaccurate, hampering their practical utility in applied settings. The purpose of the current study is to examine the underlying processes, namely self-deception and impression management, which contribute to this leniency and inaccuracy. Because self-ratings are inflated regardless of environmental affordances, self-deception is said to occur. However, when environmental contingencies that reward positive self-evaluations exist, leniency and inaccuracy increases. This suggests that impression management processes also contribute to inflated and inaccurate self-appraisals. The environmental affordances associated with self-ratings are often couched in terms of reward and nonreward purposes of appraisal (POA). The occurrence of leniency and inaccuracy in reward purposes of appraisal are potentially moderated by personality variables such as self-monitoring (SM). Consequently, POA and SM were examined in the current study. Participants completed a model building task in both non-reward and reward POAs, with self-appraisals following each task. They also completed surveys which assessed their levels of self-monitoring, self-deception, and impression management. It was predicted that self-rated performance would be lenient across conditions, reflecting self-deception. It was further predicted that participants would be more lenient and less accurate in the reward POA than in the non-reward POA, reflecting impression management processes. This would suggest an additive effect in which impression management leads to increased inflation beyond the level of inflation attributed to self-deception. Finally, it was predicted that self-rating leniency in the reward POA would be moderated by self-monitoring, such that only high self-monitors would be significantly more lenient in the reward POA in terms of their self-rated performance. Repeated measure ANOVAS using four accuracy and four leniency measures yielded limited support for the hypotheses. Implications for future research are discussed. / Master of Science

FundaÃÃo de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado do Cearà / O objetivo desta dissertaÃÃo à o de compreender, à luz do pensamento de Nietzsche, de que maneira uma determinada concepÃÃo de hipocrisia poderia estar presente nos processos que envolvem a criaÃÃo de si, ou seja, a constituiÃÃo para si de um carÃter. Para tanto, perseguimos trÃs objetivos preliminares. O primeiro, o alvo dos prolegÃmenos, à o de definir propriamente o que estamos a tratar por hipocrisia, e de que maneira a crÃtica a uma compreensÃo meramente fenomÃnica do termo poderia nos indicar a possibilidade de alcanÃar um patamar propriamente conceitual. Para isso concorre a anÃlise de alguns autores contemporÃneos que, em maior ou menor grau, tratam da hipocrisia e de alguns termos correlatos, dentre os quais o auto-engano. O segundo objetivo, agora jà com o pensamento de Nietzsche, diz respeito precisamente à possibilidade acima aventada; qual seja, a de conferir à hipocrisia uma âlegitimaÃÃoâ filosÃfica. Com esse intuito, em nosso capÃtulo um, procuramos primeiramente investigar os diferentes registros em que hipocrisia e auto-engano aparecem nos textos nietzscheanos. A partir daà â com base em uma anÃlise acerca da noÃÃo nietzscheana de aparÃncia â procuramos compreender o que de propriamente filosÃfico poderia a tais registros subjazer. Nosso terceiro objetivo à investigar de que maneira a idÃia de uma criaÃÃo de si, bem como a prÃpria noÃÃo de hipocrisia que procuramos aqui desenvolver, poderia ainda ter relevÃncia e legitimidade apÃs as crÃticas de Nietzsche Ãs idÃias de consciÃncia e sujeito da modernidade. Tal à o intento do capÃtulo dois, no qual investigamos as noÃÃes nietzscheanas de mÃscara e interpretaÃÃo que daà decorrem. Procuramos aqui compreender em que sentido poderÃamos, mesmo apÃs tais crÃticas, sustentar ainda a validade da constituiÃÃo de um eu, muito embora apoiada em um sujeito fictÃcio â momento no qual reinserimos a noÃÃo de hipocrisia que estamos a defender. Nosso objetivo principal, alvo do terceiro capÃtulo e justificado a partir daqueles trÃs objetivos preliminares Ã, entÃo, o de compreender em que sentido esta noÃÃo de hipocrisia, com o fio condutor proposto, poderia estar na base dos processos que envolvem a criaÃÃo de si, ou seja, a constituiÃÃo de um carÃter a partir de uma segunda, ou de segundas naturezas.

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Respond bias has always been a risk when it comes to interpreting personality data. For this reason two social desirability measures were created to combat this problem during research and workplace application. The first of these measures is the Marlowe-Crowne Social Desirability Scale created to measure a need for approval. The second of these measures is Balanced Inventory of Desirable Responding, which stems from a theory that describes social desirability as both a deception towards others and towards the self. For either of these measures to be usable, however, they need to be reliable and valid. This study then is intended to validate these two instruments in a diverse South African population sample and to look at the reliability of the items in these instruments and their factor structure. The objective of this study was to investigate both of these measures and to determine their psychometric properties and how they compare to the theory in literature. A convenient and purposive sample of N = 359 individuals from across South Africa was contacted via electronic means and asked to partake in this study. A questionnaire survey was forwarded to them with the intention of measuring social desirability. This included both the Marlowe-Crowne Social Desirability Scale (MCSDS) and Balanced Inventory of Desirable Responding (BIDR) measure. In addition a demographical questionnaire was included (gender, race, language group and age). The statistical analysis was done via the SPSS program during data examination: descriptive statistics, exploratory factor analysis (with Maximum Likelihood as extraction method), Cronbach’s alpha coefficients, and product-moment correlations were conducted. The results of this analysis indicated that although these measures are widely accepted and used internationally, the full version of both the measures is not valid and reliable within this South African sample. Although not all items from the scales could be validated, there were items that indicated very acceptable psychometric properties. Various recommendations were made for the context of using these measures to ascertain an individual’s response bias and for future research. A person attempting to use these measures should only focus on using the reliable items from this study. These items could be applied in developing a shortened version of these measures. It is recommended that further research into these measures could be done by using a traditional paper-and pencil format, a larger sample or by focusing on a specific population group within South Africa. / MCom (Industrial Psychology), North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2015

Respond bias has always been a risk when it comes to interpreting personality data. For this reason two social desirability measures were created to combat this problem during research and workplace application. The first of these measures is the Marlowe-Crowne Social Desirability Scale created to measure a need for approval. The second of these measures is Balanced Inventory of Desirable Responding, which stems from a theory that describes social desirability as both a deception towards others and towards the self. For either of these measures to be usable, however, they need to be reliable and valid. This study then is intended to validate these two instruments in a diverse South African population sample and to look at the reliability of the items in these instruments and their factor structure. The objective of this study was to investigate both of these measures and to determine their psychometric properties and how they compare to the theory in literature. A convenient and purposive sample of N = 359 individuals from across South Africa was contacted via electronic means and asked to partake in this study. A questionnaire survey was forwarded to them with the intention of measuring social desirability. This included both the Marlowe-Crowne Social Desirability Scale (MCSDS) and Balanced Inventory of Desirable Responding (BIDR) measure. In addition a demographical questionnaire was included (gender, race, language group and age). The statistical analysis was done via the SPSS program during data examination: descriptive statistics, exploratory factor analysis (with Maximum Likelihood as extraction method), Cronbach’s alpha coefficients, and product-moment correlations were conducted. The results of this analysis indicated that although these measures are widely accepted and used internationally, the full version of both the measures is not valid and reliable within this South African sample. Although not all items from the scales could be validated, there were items that indicated very acceptable psychometric properties. Various recommendations were made for the context of using these measures to ascertain an individual’s response bias and for future research. A person attempting to use these measures should only focus on using the reliable items from this study. These items could be applied in developing a shortened version of these measures. It is recommended that further research into these measures could be done by using a traditional paper-and pencil format, a larger sample or by focusing on a specific population group within South Africa. / MCom (Industrial Psychology), North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2015

The purpose of this thesis is to analyse unreliable narration and its motivation in the two novels by Kazuo Ishiguro, An Artist of the Floating World (1986) and The Remains of the Day (1989) using the taxonomy of Zuzana Fonioková and James Phelan and Mary Patricia Martin. In its theoretical part, this thesis explores the concept of unreliability in contemporary narratology, furthermore, it studies self-deception and memory, two phenomena essential for understanding the motivations for unreliable narration. The practical part consists of an analysis of the textual signals of unreliability, which proves the complexity of Ishiguro's narrative strategies. The thesis concludes that the climax of both the novels is created through the spelling out of the narrators' self-deception, which is the cause of their unreliability in the first place. KEYWORDS Kazuo Ishiguro, unreliable narration, self-deception, memory, An Artist of the Floating World, The Remains of the Day

(in English): The focus of this diploma thesis is disillusion in the works of the contemporary novelist Ian McEwan, particularly in his twenty-first century novels. The thesis analyses the disillusionment of the reader based on McEwan's work with traditional narratives and the reader's expectations, which is achieved through the employment of the unreliable narrator in Atonement (2001) and Sweet Tooth (2012), depiction of self-deception in Saturday (2005) and Solar (2010), and the misunderstanding on the interpersonal and intrapersonal level in On Chesil Beach (2007) and The Children Act (2014). The analysis uses the method of close reading and critical evaluation through the hermeneutic process in combination with Iser's theory about the reader, Foucault's definition of discourse and some generally accepted ideas based on psychology. The analysis reveals that Ian McEwan uses disillusion in his novels as a device through which he tries to encourage the reader to critically evaluate the reader's preconceptions about the world, the conventional narratives, and the roles the reader ascribes to him/herself and to the society around him/herself. By allowing the reader to build his/her expectations of the story's denouement and then crushing them, McEwan points out the reader's routine regarding a given...

(in English) This dissertation explores the notions of guilt and wrongdoing in the context of contemporary analytic ethics. It draws upon the critique, advanced in the second half of the 20th century, of a one-sided interest in episodic action and its rightness or wrongness. Thanks to the revival of virtue ethics during this time, the subject matter of ethics was extended to take account of human character and human life as such. As a result, the domain of moral psychology and of contingent aspects of moral experience started to be explored again. This development in ethics is outlined in the first chapter and the second chapter addresses the impact of this changed understanding of ethics upon our conception of moral judgment and responsibility. I suggest that the concept of responsibility divides in two: responsibility for the agent's (inner) fault and responsibility for the wrongdoing itself. Whereas the remainder of chapter two deals with the former, the rest of the thesis focuses upon the latter i.e. upon responsibility for the wrongdoing and upon two problems which are generated by the intricate bearing of luck and contingency on the concept of responsibility. The first of these problems concerns the relation of the person to her guilt. Guilt arises through a condemnable action for which the...

The advent of social media has provided an arena where barriers to entry are low. Individuals may persuade, question others and defend both their philosophies and their actions. This study examines the classic role of rhetorical criticism as it may apply in new media venues. A blog written by a public figure was examined through a synthesis of rhetorical criticism analyses derived from Ware and Linkugel, Vartabedian, and Downey. Four strategies and associated positioning in the practice of apologia were identified in selected blog posts, indicating the genre of apologia applies to social media apologies and extends the genre of apologia. Rhetorical criticism was found to be an effective tool in identifying rhetorical postures and strategies used in social media.