Normally, “I am not willing to do X” doesn’t excuse me from having a duty to do X. But might it sometimes? Is there such a category as the “psychologically impossible”? I discuss this today at PEA Soup. Excerpt:

My worry here is that ought implies can, and it may well be that people can’t bring themselves to do certain things. Agency isn’t all or nothing. Just as some people might compulsively engage in certain behaviors that they cannot control, so many of us might have an equivalent inability to do certain things that morality might otherwise require. It’s not just that we are unwilling to these things, but that we are unable to be willing to do these things.