Volition and the Function of Consciousness
Volition and the Function of Consciousness
Many acts of volition seem to require conscious effort. We consciously initiate spontaneous motor movements. We cancel planned actions at will. We deliberately avoid particular actions. We intentionally shift our action plans in order to pursue different goals. Sometimes, theorists say, these are the functions of consciousness, as if evolution has equipped us with the gift of consciousness just to perform these acts. Without consciousness, presumably, we would only be able to perform much simpler actions that are no more sophisticated than embellished reflexes. This chapter reviews available evidence to see if these intuitive claims are empirically supported. It discusses what is logically required for an experiment to demonstrate the true function of consciousness.
Keywords: consciousness, volition, cognitive control, vetoing, actions
Oxford Scholarship Online requires a subscription or purchase to access the full text of books within the service. Public users can however freely search the site and view the abstracts and keywords for each book and chapter.
Please, subscribe or login to access full text content.
If you think you should have access to this title, please contact your librarian.
To troubleshoot, please check our FAQs , and if you can't find the answer there, please contact us .