false 315583 2 Do we consciously cause our actions, or do they happen to us? Philosophers, psychologists, neuroscientists, theologians, and lawyers have long debated the existence of free will versus determinism. In this book Daniel Wegner offers a novel understanding of the issue. Like actions, he argues, the feeling of conscious will is created by the mind and brain. Yet if psychological and neural mechanisms are responsible for all human behavior, how could we have conscious will? The feeling of conscious will, Wegner shows, helps us to appreciate and remember our authorship of the things our minds and bodies do. Yes, we feel that we consciously will our actions, Wegner says, but at the same time, our actions happen to us. Although conscious will is an illusion, it serves as a guide to understanding ourselves and to developing a sense of responsibility and morality.<br /> <br /> Approaching conscious will as a topic of psychological study, Wegner examines the issue from a variety of angles. He looks at illusions of the will?-those cases where people feel that they are willing an act that they are not doing or, conversely, are not willing an act that they in fact are doing. He explores conscious will in hypnosis, Ouija board spelling, automatic writing, and facilitated communication, as well as in such phenomena as spirit possession, dissociative identity disorder, and trance channeling. The result is a book that sidesteps endless debates to focus, more fruitfully, on the impact on our lives of the illusion of conscious will. 1974320 2002 The Illusion of Conscious Will (Bradford Books) total:49|5:15|4:18|3:15|2:1|1:0| 49 194 123 14 3 1 false false Mon Nov 01 00:00:00 -0800 2004 Sat Dec 22 21:44:42 -0800 2007 Sat Dec 22 21:53:43 -0800 2007
It contains report after report on studies and experiments designed which t...more...]]> 0 1 false false Sun Dec 28 14:42:10 -0800 2008 Sun Dec 28 14:42:41 -0800 2008 4 1 false false Wed Nov 01 00:00:00 -0800 2006 Tue Sep 04 05:31:17 -0700 2007 Tue Sep 04 05:34:18 -0700 2007 more...]]> 3 0 false false Thu Oct 01 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Fri Nov 13 09:19:31 -0800 2009 Fri Nov 13 09:24:04 -0800 2009 more...]]> 5 0 false false Sat Jun 20 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Sat Jun 20 10:16:22 -0700 2009 Sat Jun 20 20:48:53 -0700 2009 more...]]> 5 0 false false Sun Jul 26 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Fri Dec 26 01:01:46 -0800 2008 Sun Jul 26 18:52:44 -0700 2009
We know that so many things are out of our control: our upbringings, our heredity, the actions of others, and so on... that we take great...more...]]> 4 0 false false Wed Jul 11 18:45:03 -0700 2007 Wed Jul 11 19:03:21 -0700 2007
Buddhists will find this not surprising, but others may be disturbe...more...]]> 4 0 false false Tue Feb 10 00:00:00 -0800 2009 Thu Jan 08 10:14:42 -0800 2009 Thu Feb 12 08:49:10 -0800 2009 not in fact determine the outcome of our actions. The conscious will instead is an illusion the mind creates to simplify and rationalize an underlying decision-making process. Wegner examines many examples in psyc...more...]]> 5 0 false false Wed May 28 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Sat May 10 08:01:46 -0700 2008 Thu May 29 07:54:54 -0700 2008 more...]]> 3 0 false false Fri Apr 10 15:49:18 -0700 2009 Fri Apr 10 15:51:25 -0700 2009 0 0 false false Mon Mar 23 12:49:13 -0700 2009 Mon Mar 23 12:49:56 -0700 2009 http://www.wnyc.org/shows/radiolab/]]> 3 0 true false Thu Oct 09 16:05:12 -0700 2008 Thu Oct 09 16:28:27 -0700 2008
At some point I began to explore the idea of conscious choice. In particular I was interested in teasing out the nature of belief/faith and conscious choice. This book offers thought provoking examples. It helped me explore my curiosity furthe...more...]]> 3 0 false false Fri Aug 01 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Tue Aug 05 17:46:27 -0700 2008 Tue Jan 13 11:07:16 -0800 2009 more...]]> 5 0 false false Fri Nov 14 10:12:36 -0800 2008 Fri Nov 14 10:19:11 -0800 2008 0 0 false false Thu Nov 12 03:00:42 -0800 2009 Thu Nov 12 03:00:42 -0800 2009 3 0 false false Fri Apr 04 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Mon Nov 02 12:37:33 -0800 2009 Mon Nov 02 12:37:42 -0800 2009 0 0 false false Fri Oct 30 14:56:06 -0700 2009 Fri Oct 30 14:56:06 -0700 2009 0 0 false false Sun Oct 25 05:58:29 -0700 2009 Sun Oct 25 05:58:29 -0700 2009 0 0 false false Fri Oct 23 18:43:11 -0700 2009 Fri Oct 23 18:43:11 -0700 2009 0 0 false false Tue Oct 20 10:13:16 -0700 2009 Tue Oct 20 10:13:16 -0700 2009 http://www.goodreads.com/book_link/follow/8?book_id=315583