The Science of Self-Control

This book proposes a new science of self-control based on the principles of behavioral psychology and economics. Claiming that insight and self-knowledge are insufficient for controlling one's behavior, Howard Rachlin argues that the only way to achieve such control - and ultimately happiness - is through the development of harmonious patterns of behavior. Self-control may be seen as the interaction with one's own future self. Howard Rachlin shows that indeed the value of the whole - of one's whole life - is far greater than the sum of the values of its individual parts.