Behavioral and Brain Sciences

Table of Contents - 1997 - Volume 20, Issue 01  


Open Peer Commentary
Mele: Real self-deception

Does self-deception involve intentional biasing?

W. J. Talbott a1
a1 Department of Philosophy, University of Washington, Seattle, WA 98195-3350 wtalbott@u.washington.edu http://weber.u.washington.edu/~wtalbott/

Abstract

I agree with Mele that self-deception is not intentional deception; but I do believe that self-deception involves intentional biasing, primarily for two reasons: (1) There is a Bayesian model of self-deception that explains why the biasing is rational. (2) It is implausible that the observed behavior of self- deceivers could be generated by Mele's “blind” mechanisms.