A Metaphysics and Science of our Agency

In our scientific era, there has been widespread talk about the demise of conventional notions about our agency. In this book, Jason Runyan examines our conventional thought and talk about our agency and the basis for thinking that it is inconsistent with scientific findings. Using clear language and concrete examples, he brings philosophy and science to bear on fundamental questions: What is true about us? Do we accomplish what we think we do in everyday life? And should our scientific discoveries upend the way we think about our agency? In the process, Runyan shows how analytic and empirical approaches should inform one another – how, together, they enable a more precise and expansive view, save us from the pitfalls of overreaching, and yield insights to live by.

Jason D. Runyan is Professor of Neuropsychology at Indiana Wesleyan University. His cross-disciplinary work has led to discoveries about memory, the development of smartphone-based experience sampling for collecting psychological data in daily life, evidence of virtue expression, and contributions to philosophical psychology.