Abstract

Ordinarily, we praise those that show temperance, and we admonish those that stray from it. When I wander too far in the direction of excess, you may be inclined to call me “greedy” or, depending on the circumstances, “an addict.” It is surprising that very little research has been conducted in an effort to understand any possible connection between these two ways of departing from temperance. In this essay, I analyze both our common usage of terms like “greed” and “addiction” and what I take to be paradigmatic cases of greed and addiction. To do so, I rely heavily upon philosophical and scientific analyses of greed and addiction. I conclude that there does appear to be a genuine connection between greed and addiction, though more empirical research is needed. If I am right about this connection, then research on addiction may naturally lend itself to greed researchers, and treatment designed to treat addiction may be available to those wishing to treat their greed.