Ulysses and the Sirens¶
Elster, J. (1979). Ulysses and the Sirens: Studies in Rationality and Irrationality. Cambridge University Press.
Cited by¶
6 citations across 6 artifacts.
Each citation links to the sentence it supports in the citing article.
Primes¶
- Commitment Device
- It separates two temporal positions of a single agent (the foresighted present self and the tempted future self) and names the work the present self does to bind the future self, an asymmetry Elster (1979) analyzed under the figure of Ulysses ordering his crew to lash him to the mast and stop his ears so that he could hear the Sirens without steering toward them.
This sourcePhilosophical analysis of pre-commitment and weakness of will built around Ulysses binding himself to the mast and stopping the rowers' ears; supports the structural-signature claim about the present self doing work to bind the tempted future self.
- It separates two temporal positions of a single agent (the foresighted present self and the tempted future self) and names the work the present self does to bind the future self, an asymmetry Elster (1979) analyzed under the figure of Ulysses ordering his crew to lash him to the mast and stop his ears so that he could hear the Sirens without steering toward them.
- Temporal Inconsistency and Preference Reversals
Mechanisms¶
- Debt Ceiling Gate
- A pre-committed ceiling is a form of Ulysses pact — the team binds its future self in advance, so that when the crunch arrives, the stop is already decided and no one has to find the courage to call it.
This sourceDevelops Ulysses-style precommitment as binding one's future choices in advance.
- A pre-committed ceiling is a form of Ulysses pact — the team binds its future self in advance, so that when the crunch arrives, the stop is already decided and no one has to find the courage to call it.
- Objective Charter
- It works best as a commitment device
This sourceCharacterizes precommitment as deliberate self-binding in advance.
- It works best as a commitment device
- Pilot with Exit Criteria
- The pre-written exit is its keystone: it is a pre-commitment device
This sourceDevelops precommitment or self-binding as a present agent's deliberate restriction of the choices available to a predictably weaker future self.
- The pre-written exit is its keystone: it is a pre-commitment device
- Precommitment to Dissent Review
- It is a Ulysses contract: a self-imposed constraint that protects a future self expected to be weaker.
This sourceAnalyzes Ulysses’s binding as precommitment: a self-imposed constraint chosen in advance to protect against foreseeable future weakness of will.
- It is a Ulysses contract: a self-imposed constraint that protects a future self expected to be weaker.
Verification¶
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Does it back the claim? Not recorded. Neither this nor any other of the 6 citations of this work carries a recorded support check.
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Links previously used in the corpus¶
Before the registry existed this work was also linked 3 other ways.
- https://assets.cambridge.org/97805212/69841/frontmatter/9780521269841_frontmatter.pdf ×2
- https://books.google.com/books/about/Ulysses_and_the_Sirens.html?id=dnIIAQAAIAAJ ×1
- https://books.google.com/books?id=fTtHAAAAMAAJ ×1
Registry ID ref:faf1d12f84c8 · see in the full table