When do we experience effort?
Abstract
We contend that the experience of effort should be understood as the experience arising from resisting an affective behaviour-guiding signal such as hunger, pain, fatigue, or anxiety. We argue that this provides a more satisfactory account than the cost based accounts that have become popular. We distinguish an account of the experience of effort from an account of effort itself, and argue against the reification of efforts.
Fields of Study & Subjects
Philosophical Ethics and Theory
Epistemology
Ethics
and Metaphysics
Free Will and Agency
Publication details
- Journal / source
- Synthese
- Volume
- 207
- Issue
- 1
- Pages
- 30–30
- Publication date
- 6 January 2026
- Language
- EN