THE NEUROSCIENCE OF INTENTIONS AND AGENCY
Consciousness and Free Will:
A Joint Neuroscientific-Philosophical Investigation
As humans form intentions that lead to actions, there is little doubt that they frequently experience doing so consciously. But neuroscientific work has been casting doubt on whether consciousness is part of the causal chain leading to action. In other words, are our intentions efficacious? In this project, a group of 17 scholars — neuroscientists and philosophers — join forces to understand intentions and agency in the brain — how the human brain enables conscious, causal control of actions.
The neuroscience of intentions and agency:
How does the brain enable causal, conscious control of human decisions and actions?
The disquieting experience of acting unthinkingly is not uncommon. For example, you may find yourself half way to the office when you set out to drive to the store. When consciousness is not engaged over our intentions and actions, we are falling short of an ideal of freedom — that human consciousness guides our conduct, that free agents possess conscious control. The nature of conscious control poses a challenging philosophical question. How frequently, if ever, we exercise conscious control over our intentions and action is a challenging empirical question.
In close collaboration between 17 neuroscientists and philosophers, we will test:
(1) Whether human intentions are causally efficacious for our decisions and behavior;
(2) What is the specific role of consciousness when intentions guide behavior; and
(3) What, if any, is the difference between conscious control in deliberate versus arbitrary decisions.
Beyond progress on one of the most fundamental questions in the debate on free will — this large-scale project will be central to ushering in a new, interdisciplinary scientific field: the neuroscience of intentions and agency (also known as the neurophilosophy of free will).
Questions related to intentions and agency have long been central in some of the longest-standing scholarly debates in human thought— like whether humans have free will and what is the nature of consciousness. But they have always had a practical aspect—for example in relation to moral and even legal responsibility, to some economic theories, and more. More recently, with rapid advances in artificial intelligence (AI), they have also begun to take on another practical role in judging what, if any, intentions does AI possess or can even develop.
News
Research from Maoz group featured on PBS NOVA
May 25th, 2023
2022 Worldwide Competition Winners
Feb 11th, 2022
Funding Agencies
