This book considers the common human predicament that we often choose an action other than the one we perceive to be best. Philosophers know this problem as akrasia. The author develops a nuanced understanding of the nature and causes of akrasia by integrating the best insights of Socrates, Aristotle, Augustine, and Aquinas, and several contemporary philosophers. Studies in the History of Western Philosophy (SHWP) welcomes historical examinations of the nature and development of Western philosophical activity from ancient Greece onward. It promotes understanding of philosophy as a living activity instead of as a system. General philosophical problems and individual authors are studied by the special series within the contexts of time, location, intellectual life, political situation, and cultural movement.