In this paper, I have argued that Sripada’s divided-mind model of self-control is vulnerable to two objections. First, I argued that Sripada relies on a mischaracterization of the nature of emotions, namely, that emotions are recalcitrant to reason, in order to justify the crucial division between the emotional, deliberative, and regulatory systems. If my argument is successful and emotions are not recalcitrant to reason as Sripada assumes, then the distinction that Sripada draws between these systems begins to appear ad hoc. Second, I argued that self-control problems do not necessarily involve a motivational conflict between emotion and reason, that emotions can sometimes motivate the exercise of self-control. I then considered two different options for how we should proceed if my arguments against Sripada’s model are sound, namely, a modified divided-mind account and Fujita’s recently developed structural account of self-control. I argued that, while Fujita’s model is a slight improvement over Sripada’s divided-mind model, as Fujita does posit that some emotions play a beneficial role in exercises of self-control, I ultimately concluded that it too fails to account for the various ways in which different types of emotions can motivate self- control. Finally, based on the shortcomings of both Sripada and Fujita’s accounts, I outlined three desiderata for future attempts to solve the puzzle of self-control.
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