That is one way of describing cases where second order desires conflict with first order desires, perhaps. But one can want to to want X and want X… its just that Alicorn used only examples where the two conflict (and probably the distinction is best illustrated by looking at the conflicts). But right now I have both a first order desire not to use heroin and a second order desire to not use heroin. In fact, the vast majority of our desires are probably like this. So most cases of “wanting to want” are not cases of internal conflict but perhaps these cases can be described as instances of internal consistency.
In any case, I think Occam’s Razor demands that we reject the notion of generalized second-order desires. We can leave that concept out entirely and explain everything as conflicts between first order desires and a generalized desire for consistency and/or resolution. Note that in all the examples, there are conflicting goals. In (1) it’s the desire to stay awake vs. avoiding noxious stimuli. In (2) it’s the desire to stay alive vs. cop another high. In (3) it’s the desire to live up to his upbringing vs. follow his sexual urges.
I’m not even sure that a generalized desire for consistency and/or resolution would be a second-order desire. I think that the feeling of conflict over not being able to decide which speaker to buy is a lot like resolving conflicts between incompatible desires. The only difference is that choosing to buy a speaker is usually morally neutral, but there is societal pressure to choose one option as the “right” one in 2 and 3, and an imperative to preserve one’s life in 1 and 2, so we are steered towards a particular outcome. It may well be only a trick of language that prompts us to say “I want to want X.” I suspect that we could also say, “I want X and I want Y. I cannot have both, and I know I’m supposed to want X. I wish I wasn’t conflicted.” But that is much longer than, “I want to want X.”
Just so everyone is clear:
That is one way of describing cases where second order desires conflict with first order desires, perhaps. But one can want to to want X and want X… its just that Alicorn used only examples where the two conflict (and probably the distinction is best illustrated by looking at the conflicts). But right now I have both a first order desire not to use heroin and a second order desire to not use heroin. In fact, the vast majority of our desires are probably like this. So most cases of “wanting to want” are not cases of internal conflict but perhaps these cases can be described as instances of internal consistency.
In any case, I think Occam’s Razor demands that we reject the notion of generalized second-order desires. We can leave that concept out entirely and explain everything as conflicts between first order desires and a generalized desire for consistency and/or resolution. Note that in all the examples, there are conflicting goals. In (1) it’s the desire to stay awake vs. avoiding noxious stimuli. In (2) it’s the desire to stay alive vs. cop another high. In (3) it’s the desire to live up to his upbringing vs. follow his sexual urges.
I’m not even sure that a generalized desire for consistency and/or resolution would be a second-order desire. I think that the feeling of conflict over not being able to decide which speaker to buy is a lot like resolving conflicts between incompatible desires. The only difference is that choosing to buy a speaker is usually morally neutral, but there is societal pressure to choose one option as the “right” one in 2 and 3, and an imperative to preserve one’s life in 1 and 2, so we are steered towards a particular outcome. It may well be only a trick of language that prompts us to say “I want to want X.” I suspect that we could also say, “I want X and I want Y. I cannot have both, and I know I’m supposed to want X. I wish I wasn’t conflicted.” But that is much longer than, “I want to want X.”