edited by Patrizia Pedrini

We sense that perhaps many decisions we made — maybe even more than we would be willing to acknowledge - have been made upon beliefs that are false, and yet are strongly, sometimes even irresistibly wanted, or desired. Its disconcerting hallmark lies in the fact that we somehow seem to come to believe a proposition that we should at least doubt is likely to be true, and that we seem to do that because of a strong  motivation to acquire that false belief. The phenomenon of self-deception is one of those topics that, perhaps more than others, is capable of intriguing and fascinating those who decide to devote to it a part of their studies and research.