Abstract Summary
Elizabeth Schechter (Washington University) In some sense, we contain multitudes: each of us is composed of multiple cognitive subsystems - cognitive agents, let's say. This paper concerns whether an animal is nonetheless a necessarily unitary agent of some kind to which no mere proper part of an animal could belong. The split-brain cases show that independent embodiment is not necessary for intentional autonomy or even for autonomy in action. But they also suggest that independent embodiment is necessary to a vital aspect of self-awareness: a human being enjoys a kind of first-personal autonomy that even very psychologically sophisticated parts of a human being do not.
