How do I move my body?

Authors
Citation
F. Vollmer, How do I move my body?, J MIND BEH, 19(4), 1998, pp. 369-377
Citations number
22
Categorie Soggetti
Psycology
Journal title
JOURNAL OF MIND AND BEHAVIOR
ISSN journal
02710137 → ACNP
Volume
19
Issue
4
Year of publication
1998
Pages
369 - 377
Database
ISI
SICI code
0271-0137(199823)19:4<369:HDIMMB>2.0.ZU;2-F
Abstract
What is it for me to do something is the question discussed in the present paper. It has been suggested that my doings are elicited by tryings, intent ions, and other causal mechanisms. These theories do not offer any convinci ng analysis of what it is for me to act. insight is sought by looking at so me case studies involving temporary loss of the ability to move one's body. What the case studies show, I conclude, is that when move my body in the n ormal way, I do not first have to do something else that causes my body to move. Normal actions are events bodily beings can generate spontaneously (d irectly). An essential condition for having this kind of control is inside (proprioceptive) awareness of the body. When inner awareness of the body is Lost, control can Dc taken over by visual awareness. But then movement los es its spontaneous character and depends on planning and intense concentrat ion. One can think of the self ("I") from which my actions flow, as the men tal life to which they belong, or as the consciousness that controls them.