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The Phenomenology of Agency
Author(s) -
Bayne Tim
Publication year - 2008
Publication title -
philosophy compass
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.973
H-Index - 25
ISSN - 1747-9991
DOI - 10.1111/j.1747-9991.2007.00122.x
Subject(s) - phenomenology (philosophy) , agency (philosophy) , epistemology , lived experience , psychology , psychoanalysis , philosophy
This paper provides an overview of recent discussions of the phenomenology of agency. By ‘the phenomenology of agency’ I mean those phenomenal states that are associated with first‐person agency. I call such states ‘agentive experiences’. After briefly defending the claim that there is a phenomenology distinctive of first‐person agency, I focus on two questions: (i) What is the structure of agentive experience? (ii) What is the representational content of agentive experience? I conclude with a brief examination of how agentive experiences might be generated and what role they might play in the subject's cognitive economy.