Cafe Philo: addiction?

The Autonomy Puzzle: If a person first takes a substance knowing it is highly addictive, where does "free choice" end and "compulsion" begin? Is autonomy a spectrum?

The "Rational" Choice: If an addictive choice offers a powerful, immediate benefit (like numbing trauma or escaping anxiety) at a high future cost, is it truly "irrational"?

The Paradox of Will: Can we "will" a failure of will? (Look up akrasia!) Are we suffering from a lack of knowledge (as Plato argued) or a split- or divided-will (as Augustine argued)?

The Ownership of Action: If we blame the dependency instead of the person, do we accidentally strip away their humanity and dignity by treating them like a helpless machine?

THOUGHT-STARTERS

https://hub.jhu.edu/2022/09/16/hanna-pickard-philosophers-view-of-addiction-recovery/

https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/moral-responsibility-empirical/#AddImpCon

https://magazine.blogs.wesleyan.edu/2016/04/06/between-the-lines-life-on-the-rocks-finding-meaning-in-addiction-and-recovery/