Weakness of Will from Davidson's Point of View

Weakness of will is equivalent to the Greek word Akrasia which implies acting agent contrary to his/her best judgment. Some philosophers count the phenomena as impossible. Davidson is one of those who believed in the possibility of weakness of will. In 1970 in a remarkable essay, he tried to obviate the paradox arising from the acceptance of the possibility of akrasia. Yet, he declares the phenomena as a clear sample of irrationality and maintains that the agent has no reason for what he/she does. Davidson's attitude regarding irrationality of weakness of will was moderated in 1982, where he saw irrationality as a fault in the reason scope. He maintains that weak-willed agent has a reason for his/her action; At least he could explain what he/she does. To clarify how weakness of will occurs, Davidson considered a Freudian idea that divides the mind into some distinct parts, each has its beliefs, tendencies and desires and can affect on functionality of the other parts in an irrational manner. This essay aims to show to what extent Davidson was successful in obviating paradox of akrasia and showing how it actually happens.