ABSTRACT
This chapter considers some of the phenomenological aspects of individual agency. It draws on the extensive cognitive science and some of the controversy that has developed around the concept of sense of agency. The chapter introduces some important qualifications on these analyses by considering the effects of social context and cultural practices on the experience of agency. One way to characterize the experience of agency is to distinguish it from the experience or sense of ownership. The sense of agency in some regard reflects the structure of action itself. Action is made up of a complex collection of physical processes, from neural activation to muscle activation, to basic movements of joints and muscles, that combine to form basic actions which combine to form a complex action, which may be part of a set of actions. Although agency usually involves an intended action, there are some instances where the sense of agency diverges from intention and follows unintended consequences.
