PROGRAMM

What can we really do to change our lives and the world around us and why do we mostly feel that we are in control? Psychologists and neuroscientists have struggled to provide scientific accounts of the sense of agency that seems to accompany all our fluent, everyday actions. How does the human brain generate the conscious feeling of control over one’s actions, and, through them, events in the outside world? PATRICK HAGGARD, professor of cognitive neuroscience at University College London, will unpack the captivating neuroscience behind human agency and its role in wider society in conversation with Vienna Humanities Festival co-founder DESSY GAVRILOVA.  

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PATRICK HAGGARD leads the Action and Body research group at University College London’s Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience. His scientific research focuses on the human experiences of agency, will, and self-awareness.