CFP: Agency, Bodily Perception, and the Self

The body, and the states by which we perceive the body ‘from the inside’ (somatosensory states), are tied to action in a very intimate way. This workshop aims to cover various aspects of the overlap between bodily perception and bodily action, and to discuss the impact of this overlap for our first-personal notion of ourselves as embodied agents.

We invite submissions on the following, and related, topics and questions:

- Some somatosensory states rely on bodily action. One of these states is haptic touch, in which we actively explore objects with our body. Touch has been said to contribute significantly to our consciousness of ourselves as embodied subjects. How much of this contribution is due to the action component of haptic touch? Another of these states is proprioception, namely the perception of bodily position and movement ‘from the inside’. How much do our experience of ourselves as agents, and our knowledge of action, depend on proprioception?

- Some bodily states elicit immediate bodily action. For instance, thirst elicits drinking, hunger elicits eating, and pain may elicit protection of the painful body part. To what extent are this sort of actions, commanded by the body, intentional actions? What is the importance of this sort of actions for our experience of ourselves as embodied agents?

- A lot of our bodily actions are bodily-directed actions: dealing with our bodies is an essential part of what we are doing when we are doing them. Self-directed touch, or protective behaviour, are bodily-directed actions types. How much, if at all, do bodily-directed actions contribute to our awareness of the distinction between ourselves and other agents?

Our keynote speakers will be Frédérique de Vignemont and Matthew Fulkerson.

Submission guidelines

We invite submissions for 40 minute presentations (with 20 minute discussions). Submissions should consist in 500 word abstracts with a title. Please send your abstracts to [email protected] by February 7, 2022 (included).

Registration and attendance

The workshop will take place both physically, in Barcelona, and online. Attendance is free in both modalities. However, if you intend to attend, please let us know, so that we can count you in for organizational purposes or send you the link to the virtual room in due time.

For inquiries and registration, please write to [email protected]

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