Higher level wish

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In philosophy, desires of a higher level are desires that relate to desires. One example is the gambling addict's wish to stop wanting to go to the casino. The concept of higher-level needs plays a central role in the debate over free will , can but also in the general theory of action to be applied.

Definition

Wishes can relate to observable things, states and processes, for example wishing that it is your birthday, that a certain party wins the elections, that you are less fearful, or that you are respected by another person, or they can relate to other desires. Desires that are not related to desires are referred to as first order desires, while desires about desires are referred to as higher level desires, higher order desires, or second order desires. Higher-level desires are potentially more often guided by longer-term basic convictions and reason .

One is rarely aware of the phenomenon of second-order desires in everyday life; it appears when the desires of the first and second-order do not match each other. A classic example of the conflict between first and second order desires is found in drug addicts. On the one hand, a drug addict may want to take a drug over and over again, but at the same time he has a desire to stop using drugs. According to Harry Frankfurt , the drug addict has established free will , with regard to this one aspect, when his higher-level desire (not wanting to take drugs) gives priority to the active will not to take drugs over his need to take drugs.

Another example can be an unhappy love affair, in which both partners know they are harming each other and want their relationship to end. At the same time, they do not separate because they also want to stay together. In this situation, too, the first-order wishes collide and a second-order wish is necessary to resolve the internal conflict of interest . Only one of the wishes can become effective; the couple cannot end and continue the relationship at the same time.

Free will

The idea of ​​higher level desires has been used by the philosopher Harry Frankfurt to explain the idea of ​​free will. A person is free to Frankfurt if their first-order wishes and higher-order wishes match. The drug addict would be free the moment he succeeded in bringing his desires into alignment, the same applies to partners in the unhappy love affair. If this suggestion is convincing, the establishment of free will is an ongoing challenge with a varying degree of difficulty: in some aspects it is easy to match the wishes, in others it is extremely difficult.

The concept of higher-level wishes has been adopted in philosophy by numerous philosophers, in German-speaking countries for example by Peter Bieri and Ansgar Beckermann . It is distinguished by the fact that it explains the idea of ​​free will independently of determinism , i.e. of the thesis that what happens in the world is determined by predictable natural laws . Even when the world is determined by such laws, one can be free in the sense that second order desires determine the priority of first order desires. This view is also known as compatibilism .

Higher level cognitive states

Desires are not the only cognitive states that can appear at a higher level in this way. One can also have thoughts of a higher level, i.e. think that someone is thinking something. These thoughts of a higher level are necessary so that one can speak thoughts to other beings; they are discussed under the term of metacognition .

See also

literature

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