Limits of the Conscious Control of Action

Abstract

After outlining why the notion of conscious control of action matters to us and after distinguishing different challenges to that notion, the contribution focuses on the challenge posed by the literature on unconscious goal pursuit. Based on a conceptual clarification of the notion of consciousness, I argue that the understanding of consciousness in that literature is too restricted. The possibility that the behaviors reported can be accounted for by nonconceptual forms of consciousness, such as emotions and motor experiences, rather than by – conscious or unconscious – conceptual level intentions tends to be disregarded, even though it promises to be empirically fruitful.