Background and Rationale:
Our understanding of ourselves as conscious rational, responsible agents is questioned by recent work in the cognitive sciences. This conference will bring together leading scientists and philosophers to explore the close but puzzling relationship between the concepts of self-consciousness, agency and will. We will address such important questions as:
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How do the different kinds of control humans exercise over their behaviour show up in our conscious lives?
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What is the relation between these various control processes and the narratives we employ to make sense of our behaviour?
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Do we need to feel that a behaviour is ours in order to know that it is ours?
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Is the social character of cognition incompatible with the kind of reason-responsiveness we ordinarily take to be definitive of willed behaviour?
