Robust Strength of Will

Denis Džanić (University of Graz)

BSP Research Seminar 2026

Session 2

Denis Džanić

Online | 17 September | Free

The 2026 season of the BSP Research Seminar runs for five months from August to December, with one session every month featuring a speaker from the world of phenomenology.

Denis Džanić

Robust Strength of Will

Date and time: Thursday 17 September 2026, 18:00–19:30 UK/Ireland time

Weakness of will, understood as free and intentional action against one’s best judgment or resolution, is typically taken to be a paradigm example of irrational behavior. There is widespread agreement that strength of will, in contrast, is a desirable, normatively binding feature of our agency. But what exactly is strength of will? How does it work, and why should we exercise it? In this talk, I provide a phenomenological account of strength of will. I first briefly outline one popular and attractive theory; despite its plausibility, I argue, it delivers an insufficiently precise account of the normative pressures associated with strength of will. I then leverage two Husserl-inspired notions — ‘position-taking’ and the ‘I can’ — and flesh out a phenomenologically more faithful account which, I suggest, captures the normative mechanisms underwriting strength of will.

Find out more about session 2 - including free online joining instructions - and the remaining sessions of the BSP Research Seminar 2026 at BSP Online.