Over-efforting as weakness of will

Determination, resoluteness, tenacity, perseverance, and effort are paradigmatically viewed as marks of a strong will, whereas giving up is often thought of as weakness – as giving in. The central idea explored in this paper is that these familiar dynamics can also be inverted: giving up can be hard, and require strength of will, while perseverance and continued effort can be a manifestation of weakness. It is not uncommon to respond to adversity by doubling down and investing even more effort, rather than by despairing and giving up. I make a case that there is a general form of practical irrationality common to both succumbing to temptation and to the phenomenon of “over-efforting,” such that it might be theoretically fruitful to embrace a conception of weakness of will that includes both phenomena.