Avery Archer

My dissertation attempts to provide a theory of desires.  If we conceive of a sincere assertion as the natural expression of the attitude of believing, and a sincere question as the natural expression of the attitude of wondering, then what would be the natural expression of the attitude of desiring?  In my dissertation, I  suggest that the answer is a sincere (self-directed) command.    Specifically, a desire to perform an action (an action-desire) is like a sincere command in at least three respects.  First, we do not ordinarily conceive of an action-desire as truth-evaluable.  Second, one assents to an action-desire by adopting an intention in response to and in compliance with it. Third, the formal aim of an action-desire is the attainable (i.e., a possible future outcome).   I refer to the conjunction of the three preceding claims as the Desire-as-Imperative Thesis.