Conference Report: Actor Brain

Abstract

The remarkable progress in neuroscience contributes a great deal to the debate about topics such as "free will" and "intersubjectivity." The brain is considered to be the initial basis, the superior entity of human action and evolves more and more into an autonomous actor challenging the social and philosophical sciences to a somatic turn. The main aim of the symposium "Actor Brain" at Duisburg-Essen University, was to more precisely conceive the approaches taken by neuroscience in order to arrive at a better understanding of them and their implications. Due to the scientific diversity of the speakers, the final discussion could point out that the positions taken by the participants were not as incompatible as may be first assumed. The need for accurate and precise definitions of terms such as "action", "decision-making", and "free will" is accentuated as the complexity of the debate increases. URN: urn:nbn:de:0114-fqs0603241