In Praise of Ambivalence

In Praise of Ambivalence develops a novel account of ambivalence and its significance. Against Unificationist accounts of agency, which hold that well-functioning agency aims for wholeheartedness, Coates argues that the best forms of human agency are not only compatible with ambivalence but regularly require it. Ambivalence is thus not a volitional defect, but a crucial constituent of well-functioning agency.