The Importance of Akrasia in Moral Psychology

The phenomenon of akrasia was discussed by a number of ancient philosophers. For Socrates, as depicted in Plato's early dialogues, and for the Stoics, akrasia is impossible. To explain such clear-eyed akrasia, we would need a more complicated moral psychology. The term asceticism comes from the Greek eskesus, which means practice. These Christians were indeed putting Plato's theory into practice,. pushing themselves to the ultimate limits of self-control.