Getting Hooked

The essays in this volume offer the most thorough and up-to-date discussion available of the relationship between addiction and rationality. This is the only book-length treatment of the subject and includes contributions from philosophers, psychiatrists, neurobiologists, sociologists, and economists. The volume offers an up-to-date exposition of the neurophysiology of addiction, a critical examination of the Becker theory of rational addiction, an argument for a 'visceral theory of addiction', a discussion of compulsive gambling as a form of addiction, several discussions of George Ainslie's theory of hyperbolic discounting, analyses of social causes and policy implications, and an investigation of the problem of relapse.

Preface and acknowledgements; Contributors; 1. Introduction Jon Elster and Ole-Jørgen Skog; 2. Addiction and social interaction Karl Ove Moene; 3. Addiction, weakness of the will, and relapse Olav Gjelsvik; 4. The dangers of willpower George Ainslie; 5. The neurobiology of chemical addiction Eliot L. Gardner and James David; 6. To legalize or not to legalize: is that the question? Helge Waal; 7. Rationality, irrationality and addiction - notes on Becker's and Murphy's theory of addiction Ole-Jørgen Skog; 8. Gambling and addiction Jon Elster; 9. A visceral account of addiction George Loewenstein; 10. Epilogue: rationally coping with lapses from rationality Thomas Schelling; Index.