Open AccessJustifying Oneself
Author(s) -
Mark Piper
Publication year - 2017
Publication title -
european journal of analytic philosophy
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
eISSN - 1849-0514
pISSN - 1845-8475
DOI - 10.31820/ejap.13.1.2
Subject(s) - cognitive dissonance , normative , psychology , feeling , empirical psychology , social psychology , epistemology , content (measure theory) , cognition , cognitive psychology , theoretical psychology , philosophy , neuroscience , mathematical analysis , mathematics
At present, the activity of justifying oneself is mostly discussed in psychology, where it is typically viewed as a negative or at least regrettable activity involving changing one’s attitudes, beliefs, and feelings in order to minimize psychological threats arising from cognitive dissonance. Yet there is conceptual space, even a need, for an analysis of justifying oneself that is more content-neutral in nature. In this paper I provide such an analysis. Along the way I also briefly canvass some of the empirical work on self- justification in psychology and gesture towards issues surrounding the normative significance of the practice of justifying oneself.