Esta dissertação constitui-se de três ensaios. O primeiro trata da impossibilidade de existência do livre arbítrio dentro e fora da Teoria Econômica Utilitarista. O segundo aborda a questão da inconsistência temporal (i.e. quando a ação empreendida presentemente pelo agente não é coerente com a decisão tomada anteriormente por ele) sem que para tanto se recorra às noções de autocontrole e força de vontade. O terceiro trata da possibilidade de responsabilidade moral na ausência de livre arbítrio e autocontrole/ força de vontade. / This dissertation contains three essays. The first one regards the impossibility of free will in and out of Economic Theory. The second one discusses the question of temporal inconsistency (i.e. when the agent’s present action isn’t coherent with his prior decision) without recur to the notions of self-control and willpower. The third one is concerned with the possibility of moral responsibility in absence of freewill and self-control/ willpower.

Esta dissertação constitui-se de três ensaios. O primeiro trata da impossibilidade de existência do livre arbítrio dentro e fora da Teoria Econômica Utilitarista. O segundo aborda a questão da inconsistência temporal (i.e. quando a ação empreendida presentemente pelo agente não é coerente com a decisão tomada anteriormente por ele) sem que para tanto se recorra às noções de autocontrole e força de vontade. O terceiro trata da possibilidade de responsabilidade moral na ausência de livre arbítrio e autocontrole/ força de vontade. / This dissertation contains three essays. The first one regards the impossibility of free will in and out of Economic Theory. The second one discusses the question of temporal inconsistency (i.e. when the agent’s present action isn’t coherent with his prior decision) without recur to the notions of self-control and willpower. The third one is concerned with the possibility of moral responsibility in absence of freewill and self-control/ willpower.

Self-control has been measured using a variety of methods including self-report measures, cognitive inhibition tasks, delay discounting and delay of gratification tasks, and persistence and willpower tasks. Although these are all theoretically linked to processes involved in self-control, recent evidence has shown that these diverse measurement techniques relate only minimally to one another. Assuming that self-control is a reflective construct, this would indicate that many of these tasks are poor indicators of self-control. The present research challenges the common assumption that self-control is a reflective construct and instead proposes that self-control is a formative construct. Conceptualizing self-control as a formative construct could reconcile some of the inconsistencies in the literature, in particular the fact that many indicators for self-control do not correlate highly. To examine the possibility of a formative model of self-control, this research examines 13 commonly used measures of self-control and investigates indicator intercorrelations, indicator relationships with the theoretical consequences of self-control, and performs a vanishing tetrad test (Bollen & Ting, 2000). Results show that in general, indicator intercorrelations are low and nonsignificant as well as indictor correlations with theorized construct consequences. The results of the vanishing tetrad test suggest a reflective interpretation of self-control, but concerns with uniformly low covariances between indicators limit the interpretation of this test.

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The effort required to obtain certain rewards may influence the level of satisfaction with the following reward. Since people differ in beliefs about the availability of willpower resources required to pursue effortful actions, we investigated how willpower beliefs affect the perception of effort and satisfaction with reward. We hypothesized that people with limited willpower beliefs (i.e., believing that exerting effort leads to depletion of their inner resources) will perceive cognitive tasks as more effortful and will be less satisfied with the subsequent reward than those with non-limited beliefs (i.e., believing that exerting effort is invigorating rather than depleting). We tested this hypothesis by manipulating effort with different difficulty levels of the N-back task and measuring participants’ perception of effort expenditure and subjective satisfaction with a reward depending on their willpower beliefs. In accordance with the predictions, we found that those with limited willpower beliefs perceived the task as more effortful than those with non-limited willpower beliefs. Furthermore, when asked to subjectively rate their satisfaction with the reward gained for the task, limited believers rated their satisfaction lower than non-limited believers. These findings suggest that people take their willpower capacities into effort-satisfaction calculations. Results are discussed within the context of other models of effort, and practical implications of the findings are suggested.

This thesis takes three different perspectives, using theoretical and experimental techniques, on time-inconsistent preferences and how the existence of multiple selves can affect both consumer behaviour and policy design. Across domains such as retirement saving, health, and educational achievement, intertemporal choice presents a challenge for both individuals and policymakers. The first paper, 'Choosing When to Nudge: Designing Behavioural Policy around Decision-Making Costs,' considers how behavioural policy, which has proven increasingly popular with policymakers, affects welfare. I find that for present-biased consumers, behavioural policies help some consumers but can inefficiently discourage others from optimizing. Such policies therefore have an ambiguous effect on welfare, and similar to traditional policies, can impose equity-efficiency tradeoffs. Monopolies may increase welfare given their incentive to simplify consumer decisions instead of exploit switching costs. The second paper, 'Virtue and Vice with Endogenous Preferences,' considers behaviour when preferences are affected by consumer decisions. I introduce agents whose temptation to consume in the present is affected by how much they choose to save for the future. I find that differences between agents can trap them in divergent paths of self-improvement -- saving more, they value the future more, making saving optimal -- or binging -- consuming more makes them indifferent to future costs, making consumption optimal. At the extreme, it is frequently an optimum for a consumer to consume their entire wealth. The final paper, 'Bet You Can't Eat Just One: Consumption Complementarity and 'Self'-Control' considers an intrapersonal game between a moderate cold self and a hot self that wants to indulge. In equilibrium, sophisticated selves best respond to each other's behaviour: the cold self over-abstains and the hot self over-indulges to avoid inducing the other state. I test these ideas in the lab, and find that subjects on a diet who were induced to consume a piece of chocolate before the experiment indulge more in chocolate during the experiment, even when the initial indulgence was imposed by the experimenter. Eating a piece of chocolate, this suggests, can induce a period during which chocolate is more appealing.

One dominant scientific view holds that willpower is a type of muscle which can be weakened through use in the short term and strengthened through use over time. However, evidence from neuroscience, social psychology and behavioral economics suggest that willpower is regional, subverted through desire and strengthened by strategy--these are features a muscular account would not predict. It is better to think about willpower as a skill with a physiological component. Willpower strategies extend the brute effort of self-control through the use of reason and have the practical effect of increasing self-regulation. Willpower is "worth wanting" because there is a gap in our given desires and our evaluations. In general willpower is the skill responsible for extending the motivational force of evaluations to overcome the motivational force of other interests. Of course, willpower can be used in the service of evil, but in general it is a power we would prefer to have. Interestingly, not all cases of weakness of will are, on balance, bad. As a practical matter weakness of will is a crucial element of developing willpower skills over time. Just as a skilled batter relies on failures to teach what is required for good hitting, willpower failures are an important element in developing habits for success. Additionally, the motivational failure of evaluation built in to weakness of will requires a commitment to practical claim that one can choose how to act in ways not dictated by given desires. This commitment to the importance and viability of evaluation is a crucial component of having a moral perspective in a natural system and weakness of will is a signifier of this foundational element of a practical perspective.

Par un arrêt très remarqué rendu le 10 juillet 2007 dont la formule a depuis été réitérée, la Chambre commerciale a énoncé que « si la règle selon laquelle les conventions doivent être exécutées de bonne foi permet au juge de sanctionner l’usage déloyal d’une prérogative contractuelle, elle ne l’autorise pas à porter atteinte à la substance même des droits et obligations légalement convenus entre les parties ». Elle a ainsi opposé la substance de l’obligation à la prérogative. Cette solution novatrice suscite l’interrogation. Cette étude a pour objectif d’insérer le concept de substance de l’obligation dans le régime de droit commun des obligations. Dans un premier temps, il est indispensable de cerner ce concept en le définissant. Saisi comme le cœur intangible du contrat, il doit se comprendre comme l’attente légitime du créancier raisonnable de l’obligation essentielle. Confronté aux notions de cause et de force obligatoire, il montre sa capacité à repenser le droit des obligations. Il met en évidence l’articulation des alinéas premier et troisième de l’article 1134 du Code civil, ainsi que la hiérarchie au sein même de l’alinéa premier de ce même article. Dans un deuxième temps, l’originalité de son régime doit être appréciée. Le concept de substance de l’obligation intervient au stade de la conclusion du contrat, comme au stade de son exécution. Il complète le régime de l’erreur-obstacle, en autorisant la sanction de l’erreur sur la rentabilité économique du contrat. Il simplifie également le régime de la clause lui portant atteinte. Il permet, en outre, de repenser le régime de l’imprévision, en ouvrant la voie à la caducité et à la révision judiciaire du contrat. Les pouvoirs d’interprétation et d’intervention du juge dans le contrat sont affinés. Ce sont finalement les principes directeurs du droit des obligations qui sont repensés. Le concept de substance de l’obligation s’inscrit donc en rupture avec l’autonomie de la volonté. Il remodèle enfin la force obligatoire du contrat. / By the much acclaimed decision of July 10, 2007, since reiterated, the Commercial Chamber stated that “if the rule according to which conventions must be executed in good faith allows the judge to sanction unfair use of a contractual prerogative, it does not allow it to undermine the very substance of the rights and legal obligations agreed between the parties”. It has opposed the substance of the obligation to the prerogative. This innovative solution arouses some questioning. The aim of this study is to incorporate the concept of substance of the obligation under the common law of obligations. Firstly, it is essential to define the concept. Considered as the intangible heart of a contract, it must be understood as the legitimate expectation of the reasonable creditor of the essential obligation. Confronted to notions of cause and compulsory value of a contract, it shows its ability to rethink the law of obligations. It highlights the articulation of the first and third paragraphs of article 1134 of the civil Code, and the hierarchy even within the first paragraph of that article. Secondly, the originality of its regime must be assessed. The concept of substance of the obligation intervenes in the conclusion of the contract, as well as during its execution. It completes the system of error-barrier allowing the sanction of the error on the economic profitability of the contract. It also simplifies the system of the clause relating to its detriment. It allows a rethinking of the system of vagueness, opening the way to futility and judicial review of the contract. Interpretive powers and judicial intervention in the contract are refined. It is ultimately the guiding principles of contract law that are redesigned. The concept of substance of the obligation therefore falls out with the independent willpower. Lastly, it restructures the compulsory value of a contract.

Considéré comme le père de la psychologie expérimentale en France, fondateur de la Revue Philosophique de la France et de l'Étranger, Théodule Ribot a joui de son vivant d'une autorité largement reconnue, difficile à mesurer aujourd'hui. On lui reconnaît l’ambition d’avoir voulu émanciper la psychologie de la philosophie pour tenter d’en faire une science indépendante, mais sa pensée s’en trouve souvent réduite à une sorte de positivisme physiologique, qui ne rend ni raison de l’empreinte qu’a laissée la philosophie sur son œuvre de psychologue, ni plus généralement de la complexité et de l’originalité de sa psychologie « nouvelle ». L’objectif de cette thèse est d’apporter une réflexion comparative et critique sur le problème de la définition de la volonté et de ses troubles à la lumière des travaux de Ribot, qui envisagent cette volonté principalement sous l’angle pathologique de sa « dissolution ». Nous soulignons les ambitions novatrices de cette méthode pathologique, qui propose d’éclairer l’évolution normale des phénomènes psychologiques par leur régression. En observant les manifestations d’une volonté anormale, sous l’angle de la « dissolution », le psychologue est en mesure d’induire une description du processus physiologique à l’œuvre dans le vouloir à l’état normal. En cherchant à s’éloigner à la fois de la métaphysique et de l’introspection naïve, Ribot entend proposer une autre approche des faits mentaux qui, peu soucieuse de condamner la volonté malade, cherche avant tout à la passer au crible de l’analyse scientifique. Cette thèse propose cependant de nuancer l’idée d’une séparation radicale entre l’analyse de la volonté comme fonction et/ou faculté de l’âme dans la tradition philosophique classique, et celle que propose la psychologie expérimentale de Ribot. Il s’agit de montrer dans quelle mesure « la thèse physiologique » achoppe sur plusieurs aspects de la caractérisation du pouvoir volontaire, et de quelles manières Ribot propose de réévaluer la nature polymorphe du pouvoir volontaire. / Théodule Ribot, considered as the father of experimental psychology in France and founder of the “Revue Philosophique de la France et de l'Etranger”, attained during his lifetime an undisputed and widely acknowledged authority that is not easily measured today. Known largely for his ambition to emancipate psychology from philosophy in order to constitute it as an independent science, his thought is often reduced, however, to its physiological positivism aspects, which fails to make justice to the imprint that philosophy had left on his work as a psychologist or, more generally, to the complexity and originality of his "new" psychology. The purpose of this dissertation is to offer a comparative and critical reflection on the problem of the definition of will and its disorders in light of Ribot's work, where will is predominantly interpreted from the pathological angle of its "dissolution." We emphasize the innovative ambitions of this pathological method, which purports to shed light on the normal evolution of psychological phenomena through their regression. By observing the manifestations of abnormal will under the prism of "dissolution," the psychologist is able to produce a description of the physiological process at work in will as it presents in its normal state. In seeking to distance himself from both metaphysics and naive introspection, Ribot intends to introduce a different approach to mental facts that -unconcerned with condemning ill will- seeks first and foremost to sift it through the sieve of scientific scrutiny. This dissertation intends to add nuance to the idea of a radical separation between the analysis of will as a function and/or faculty of the soul in the classical philosophical tradition, and Ribot's experimental psychology approach with the aim of interrogating to what extent the "physiological thesis" falters over several aspects of the characterization of voluntary power, and the ways in which Ribot suggests to reassess the polymorphic nature of our willpower.

Объектом исследования явилась школьная самостоятельность учащихся младших классов. Предметом исследования стал уровень и проявления самостоятельности младших школьников в учебной деятельности. Магистерская диссертация состоит из введения, двух глав, заключения, списка литературы (78 источников) и приложения, включающего в себя бланки применявшихся методик. Объем магистерской диссертации 89 страниц, на которых размещены 16 рисунков. Во введении раскрывается актуальность проблемы исследования, разработанность проблематики, ставятся цель и задачи исследования, определяются объект и предмет исследования, формулируются основная и дополнительные гипотезы, указываются методы и эмпирическая база, а также этапы проведения исследования, научная новизна, теоретическая и практическая значимость работы. Первая глава включает в себя обзор иностранной и отечественной литературы по теме школьной самостоятельности учеников 6-10 лет. Представлены разделы, посвященные исследованию показателей структурных составляющих школьной самостоятельности и их взаимосвязей у учащихся младших классов. Выводы по первой главе представляют собой итоги по изучению теоретического материала. Вторая глава посвящена эмпирической части исследования. В ней представлено описание организации и методов проведенного исследования и результатов, полученных по всем использованным методикам: Диагностика параметров учебной самостоятельности младших школьников (по методике Н. В. Калининой), Методика «Нерешаемая задача» и экспертная оценка самостоятельности учащихся (А.К. Осиницкий), Карта проявлений самостоятельности (А.М. Щетинина), Анкета «Оценка уровня развития силы воли (Л.В. Балясникова). Также в главе представлен корреляционный и статистический анализ результатов исследования. Выводы по главе 2 включают в себя основные результаты эмпирического исследования. В заключении в обобщенном виде изложены результаты теоретической и эмпирической частей работы, а также выводы по выдвинутым гипотезам, обоснована практическая значимость исследования и описаны возможные перспективы дальнейшей разработки данной проблематики. / The object of the research was the school independence of primary school students. The subject of the research was the level and manifestations of the independence of primary schoolchildren in educational activities. The master's thesis consists of an introduction, two chapters, a conclusion, a list of literature (78 sources) and an appendix, which includes the forms of the applied methodologies. The volume of the master's thesis is 89 pages, on which are placed 16 figures. The introduction reveals the relevance of the research problem, the development of the problematics, the purpose and objectives of the research are set, the object and the subject of research are determined, the basic and additional hypotheses are formulated, the methods and the empirical base are specified, as well as the stages of the research, the scientific novelty, the theoretical and practical significance of the work. The first chapter includes a review of foreign and domestic literature on the topic of school independence for children 6-10 years old. The sections devoted to the study of indicators of the structural components of school independence and their interconnections in primary school students are presented. Conclusions on the first chapter are the results of the study of theoretical material. The second chapter is devoted to the empirical part of the study. It provides a description of the organization and methods of the study and the results obtained using all the methods used: Diagnostics of the parameters of educational independence of junior schoolchildren (according to the method of N. V. Kalinina), Method "Unsolvable problem" and expert assessment of the independence of students (A. K. Osinitsky), Map of manifestations of independence (A. M. Shchetinina), Questionnaire "Assessment of the level of development willpower (L.V. Balyasnikova). Also, the chapter presents a comparative, correlation and statistical analysis of the results of the study. The findings of Chapter 2 are the main results of the empirical study. In conclusion, brief results of the theoretical and empirical parts of the work are presented, as well as conclusions on the hypotheses. The practical significance of the study is substantiated and possible prospects for further development of the problematics are described.