Abstract

What is difficulty? Despite being invoked in numerous normative debates, the nature of difficulty remains poorly understood. Various accounts, tailored to different explanatory contexts, have recently been proposed in different philosophical discussions. I criticize these accounts. I then provide an alternative, empirically informed account of difficulty in terms of cognitive demand. This account captures both empirical phenomena and folk intuitions regarding difficulty. I further argue that it generalises well, explaining many other facets of difficulty. I conclude by showcasing the broad applicability of this account by examining a set of normative debates that invoke difficulty. I demonstrate that understanding difficulty in terms of cognitive demand facilitates progress on pressing questions in the study of moral responsibility, achievement, the value of difficult actions, and moral demandingness.