Consciousness and Agency

International audienceThere are three projects within the cognitive science of agency and consciousness that are of particular interest to neuroethics: the descriptive project, the genetic project, and the substantive project. The descriptive project is concerned with characterizing our everyday experience of, and beliefs about, agency. What is the folk view of agency? The aim of the genetic project is to give an account of the psychological mechanisms involved in constructing our experience of, and beliefs about, agency. How is the folk view of agency to be explained? The substantive project is concerned with determining the degree to which our experiences of, and beliefs about, agency are correct and to what degree they might need to be revised in light of findings from the cognitive sciences. Is the folk view of agency basically correct or does it need to be modified in fundamental ways (as “will skeptics” argue)? This entry provides an overview of recent research relating to all three projects