Decomposing the Will

Erscheinungsjahr 2013
ISBN: 978-0-19-974699-6
Verlag: Oxford University Press

Buch, Englisch, 368 Seiten, Format (B × H): 162 mm x 243 mm, Gewicht: 606 g

Reihe: Philosophy of Mind Series

There is growing evidence from the science of human behavior that our everyday, folk understanding of ourselves as conscious, rational, responsible agents may be radically mistaken. The science, some argue, recommends a view of conscious agency as merely epiphenomenal: an impotent accompaniment to the whirring unconscious machinery (the inner zombie) that prepares, decides and causes our behavior. The new essays in this volume display and explore this radical claim,
revisiting the folk concept of the responsible agent after abandoning the image of a central executive, and "decomposing" the notion of the conscious will into multiple interlocking aspects and functions.

Part 1 of this volume provides an overview of the scientific research that has been taken to support "the zombie challenge." In part 2, contributors explore the phenomenology of agency and what it is like to be the author of one's own actions. Part 3 then explores different strategies for using the science and phenomenology of human agency to respond to the zombie challenge.

Questions explored include: what distinguishes automatic behavior and voluntary action? What, if anything, does consciousness contribute to the voluntary control of behavior? What does the science of human behavior really tell us about the nature of self-control?

Zielgruppe

Academic researchers and graduate and senior undergraduate students studying free will.

Autoren/Hrsg.

Clark, Andy

Kiverstein, Julian

Vierkant, Tillmann

Fachgebiete

• Geisteswissenschaften Philosophie Philosophische Psychologie
• Geisteswissenschaften Philosophie Metaphysik, Ontologie
• Geisteswissenschaften Philosophie Ethik, Moralphilosophie
• Geisteswissenschaften Philosophie Moderne Philosophische Disziplinen Philosophie des Geistes, Neurophilosophie
• Sozialwissenschaften Psychologie Psychologie / Allgemeines & Theorie Psychologische Theorie, Psychoanalyse Philosophische Psychologie, Logotherapie, Existenzanalyse
• Sozialwissenschaften Psychologie Allgemeine Psychologie Kognitionspsychologie

Über Autor(innen)

Andy Clark is Professor of Philosophy at the University of Edinburgh.

Julian Kiverstein is Postdoctoral Researcher in Philosophy at University of the Edinburgh.

Tillmann Vierkant is Lecturer of Philosophy at the University of Edinburgh.