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1. Frontal Cortex and Intelligibility 1. Frontal Cortex and Intelligibility
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2. Agency and Authenticity 2. Agency and Authenticity
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3. Natural Autonomy 3. Natural Autonomy
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Notes Notes
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26 Neurophilosophy of Free Will
Get accessHenrik Walter is professor for psychiatry, psychiatric neuroscience and neurophilosophy at the Charité in Berlin, Germany. He is board certified in neurology, psychiatry, and psychotherapy and holds doctoral degrees in medicine and philosophy. He is author of Neurophilosophy of Free Will (2001) and “Neurophilosophy of Moral Responsibility” (Philosophical Topics, 2004), and editor of several German books including The Nature of Emotion (2003), Morality, Rationality and the Emotions (2004), and From Neuroethics to Neurolaw? (2009). Empirically, he works on the neural and genetic basis of higher mental functions, in particular emotion regulation, the theory of mind, and volition.
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Published:02 September 2009
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Abstract
This article discusses the role of the frontal cortex of the brain in the planning of actions, the selection from various options, and the organizing of behavior over time. It considers neurological evidence for and against the claim that this region of the brain is the seat of the “will” in human beings. It argues that the functions of willing (deliberation, planning, and the like) are distributed throughout the brain, though the prefrontal areas play a pivotal role by providing a link between the cortical regions involved in higher cognitive functioning and other parts of the brain that are the sources of emotions, feelings, and motor reactions. The article also discusses neurological evidence suggesting that the interruption of circuits involving the frontal cortex and related parts of the brain due to lesions or other deficiencies gives rise to disturbances in the feeling of agency. These include “alien hand syndrome” (where the patient's hand seems to have a “will of its own”), obsessive-compulsive disorders, and the “self-disorder” of schizophrenics, where patients feel that certain experiences and mental actions no longer belong to themselves or are produced outside of themselves.
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