I heard this one for the first time ever while listening to a recent podcast interview with Dr. Alfred Mele, an academic philosopher who studies and writes about human agency and weakness of will. Dr. Mele and his interviewer used the word “Akrasia: multiple times throughout their discussion, and I honestly had no clue what it meant.

So I looked it up:

AKRASIA:  (also Acrasia). A noun. 

The state of mind in which someone acts against their better judgement through weakness of will.

Derivatives: Akratic, an adjective.

Origin: Early 19th century: from Greek, from a- ’without’ + kratos ’power, strength’. The term is used especially with reference to Aristotle’s Nicomachean Ethics.

After listening to the interview with Dr. Mele, I now plan to queue up his newest book in my Audible playlist. In case you’re interested, the book is titled, “Backsliding: Understanding Weakness of Will.”