Reconstructing the minimal self, or how to make sense of agency and ownership

Sanneke de Haan, Leon de Bruin

pp. 373-396

We challenge Gallagher's distinction between the sense of ownership (SO) and the sense of agency (SA) as two separable modalities of experience of the minimal self and argue that a careful investigation of the examples provided to promote this distinction in fact reveals that SO and SA are intimately related and modulate each other. We propose a way to differentiate between the various notions of SO and SA that are currently used interchangeably in the debate, and suggest a more gradual reading of the two that allows for various blends of SO and SA. Such an approach not only provides us with a richer phenomenology but also with a more parsimonious view of the minimal self.

Publication details

DOI: 10.1007/s11097-009-9148-0

Full citation:

de Haan, , de Bruin, L. (2010). Reconstructing the minimal self, or how to make sense of agency and ownership. Phenomenology and the Cognitive Sciences 9 (3), pp. 373-396.

This text is available for download in the following format(s)