Self-deception as a form of rational self-misconception. Historical-phenomenological investigation of an intersubjectively motivated phenomenon

• Applicant: Dr. Nicola Zambon
• Subject Area: Theoretical Philosophy
• Term: since 2025
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 566470908

What is self-deception? Is it a kind of lie, a lie we tell ourselves? Is self-deception a shortcoming to be avoided or an essential part of our lives? What causes and motivates it, how does it arise, what social and psychological circumstances foster it, what function does it serve in life? The central thesis of the research project is that self-deception is an intersubjectively determined phenomenon. It will therefore be examined in its many forms and aspects, refracted through a prism, and explained and described. Hence, self-deception is only possible because we project ourselves onto others and have to relate to their demands and expectations as well as to their and our possible disappointments. In contrast to the currently dominant epistemological debate, the focus of the project is not on the possibility of intentional deception in self-relationship, but rather on the situational, intersubjectively conditioned motives that underlie self-deception processes. On this basis, the aim is to move from neutral subjects to concrete persons and processes at the centre of the investigation, so that hitherto underexposed or even suppressed elements of research can be taken into account. These include the body-affective dimensions of self-deception processes as well as gendered, culturally determined factors that contribute to the diversification of self-deception dynamics. The basic belief is that self-deception is not always a deprivation or a deficit; rather, the question is whether self-deception has an inherent prudential or pragmatic rationality that is motivated by the life-world. In this context, the project examines self-deception from a conceptual-historical and phenomenological perspective, thus addressing a research desideratum: on the one hand, an overarching reconstruction that examines crucial aspects of modern concepts of self-deception; on the other hand, a phenomenological description and explication of modes of self-deception with regard to their situational, intersubjective conditions.

• DFG Programme: Research Grants