J Shepherd
Biographic Data
| ID | 25873 |
|---|---|
| NAME | J Shepherd |
| GIVEN NAMES | J |
| FAMILY NAME | Shepherd |
| SIGNATURE | SHEPHERD J |
| AFFILIATIONS | Carleton University |
| ORCID | 0000-0003-2008-649X |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 29 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 33 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 29 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 1938 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2026 |
| H-INDEX | 4 |
Motoric representational format
How To Think About the Functions of Consciousness
A foundational issue for the science and philosophy of consciousness concerns the function(s) of consciousness—what consciousness does for any particular aspect of psychological or neural processing. In spite of progress in consciousness science, false assumptions and a lack of clarity regarding how best to approach the functions of consciousness represent an ongoing and serious roadblock to progress. Misguided approaches to the function(s) of co…
Mental control and effort differ across different kinds of mental action
Cooperation, Cognition, and the Elusive Role of Joint Agency
We propose an approach to the evolution of joint agency and cooperative behavior that contrasts with views that take joint agency to be a uniquely human trait. We argue that there is huge variation in cooperative behavior and that while much human cooperative behavior may be explained by invoking cognitively rich capacities, there is cooperative behavior that does not require such explanation. On both comparative and theoretical grounds, complex …
Sentience, Vulcans, and zombies: The value of phenomenal consciousness
Many think that a specific aspect of phenomenal consciousness—valenced or affective experience—is essential to consciousness’s moral significance (valence sentientism). They hold that valenced experience is necessary for well-being, or moral status, or psychological intrinsic value (or all three). Some think that phenomenal consciousness generally is necessary for non-derivative moral significance (broad sentientism). Few think that consciousness…
Knowledge, Practical Knowledge, and Intentional Action
We argue that any strong version of a knowledge condition on intentional action, the practical knowledge principle, on which knowledge of what I am doing (under some description: call it A-ing) is necessary for that A-ing to qualify as an intentional action, is false. Our argument involves a new kind of case, one that centers the agent’s control appropriately and thus improves upon Davidson’s well-known carbon copier case. After discussing this c…
Joseph Wheelan, Bitter Peleliu: The Forgotten Struggle on the Pacific War’s Worst Battlefield by Joshua Shepherd
Intentional action and knowledge-centered theories of control
Intentional action is, in some sense, non-accidental, and one common way action theorists have attempted to explain this is with reference to control. The idea, in short, is that intentional action implicates control, and control precludes accidentality. But in virtue of what, exactly, would exercising control over an action suffice to make it non-accidental in whatever sense is required for the action to be intentional? One interesting and prima…
Flow and the dynamics of conscious thought
The flow construct has been influential within positive psychology, sport psychology, the science of consciousness, the philosophy of agency, and popular culture. In spite of its longstanding influence, it remains unclear [a] how the constituents of the flow state ‘hang together’—how they relate to each other causally and functionally—[b] in what sense flow is an ‘optimal experience,’ and [c] how best to describe the unique phenomenology of the f…
John Grehan and Alexander Nicoll, Saipan 1944: The Most Decisive Battle of the Pacific War (Joshua Shepherd)
Practical Structure and Moral Skill
I argue that moral skill is limited and precarious. It is limited because global moral skill-the capacity for morally excellent behaviour within an über action domain, such as the domain of living, or of all-things-considered decisions, or the same kind of capacity applied across a superset of more specific action domains-is not to be found in humans. It is precarious because relatively local moral skill, while possible, is prone to misfire. My a…
Skill and Sensitivity to Reasons
In this paper I explore the relationship between skill and sensitivity to reasons for action. I want to know to what degree we can explain the fact that the skilled agent is very good at performing a cluster of actions within some domain in terms of the fact that the skilled agent has a refined sensitivity to the reasons for action common to the cluster. The picture is a little bit complex. While skill can be partially explained by sensitivity to…
Mark Lardas, The Glorious First of June 1794 (Joshua Shepherd)
Mark Lardas, Spanish Galleon vs English Galleon 1550-1605 (Joshua Shepherd)
Unconscious perception and central coordinating agency
One necessary condition on any adequate account of perception is clarity regarding whether unconscious perception exists. The issue is complicated, and the debate is growing in both philosophy and science. In this paper we consider the case for unconscious perception, offering three primary achievements. First, we offer a discussion of the underspecified notion of central coordinating agency, a notion that is critical for arguments that purported…
Intelligent action guidance and the use of mixed representational formats
My topic is the intelligent guidance of action. In this paper I offer an empirically grounded case for four ideas: that [a] cognitive processes of practical reasoning play a key role in the intelligent guidance of action, [b] these processes could not do so without significant enabling work done by both perception and the motor system, [c] the work done by perceptual and motor systems can be characterized as the generation of information (often c…
Determinism and attributions of consciousness
The studies we report indicate that it is possible to manipulate explicit ascriptions of consciousness by manipulating whether an agent's behavior is deterministically caused. In addition, we explore whether this impact of determinism on consciousness is direct, or whether it is mediated by notions linked to agency - notions like moral responsibility, free will, deliberate choice, and sensitivity to moral reasons. We provide evidence of mediation…
Skilled Action and the Double Life of Intention
In bodily intentional action, an agent exercises control over her bodily behavior. An important part of the explanation of this involves a mental state of commitment to an action plan—that is, the agent's intention. The agent's intention (or its acquisition) initiates the action, and the continuance of the intention throughout the unfolding action plays important causal roles in sustaining and guiding the action to completion. But the agent's int…
Scientific Challenges to Free Will and Moral Responsibility
Here, I review work from three lines of research in cognitive science often taken to threaten free will and moral responsibility. This work concerns conscious deciding, the experience of acting, and the role of largely unnoticed situational influences on behavior. Whether this work in fact threatens free will and moral responsibility depends on how we ought to interpret it, and depends as well on the nature of free and responsible behavior. I dis…
Geronimo
Journal Article Geronimo Get access Robert M. Utley. (New Haven: Yale University Press, 2012. xii, 348 pp. $30.00.) Journal of American History, Volume 101, Issue 3, December 2014, Page 949, https://doi.org/10.1093/jahist/jau664 Published: 01 December 2014
OP44 Trends in Community Violence in England and Wales 2005-2009
Background Recognising the need for clarity in national violence trends, injury records from Emergency Departments (EDs) have been studied over the last decade as part of the work of the National Violence Surveillance Network (NVSN) and provide information about local, regional and national violence levels and trends in England and Wales. The purpose of the current study is to evaluate overall, gender, age-specific and regional trends in communit…
Free will and consciousness: Experimental studies
What are the folk-conceptual connections between free will and consciousness? In this paper I present results which indicate that consciousness plays central roles in folk conceptions of free will. When conscious states cause behavior, people tend to judge that the agent acted freely. And when unconscious states cause behavior, people tend to judge that the agent did not act freely. Further, these studies contribute to recent experimental work on…
The reduction of intoxication and disorder in premises licensed to serve alcohol: An exploratory randomised controlled trial
Medical Research Council (G0701758) to Simon Moore, Simon Murphy, Laurence Moore and Jonathan Shepherd
Risk Factors for Violent Victimisation and Injury from Six Years of the British Crime Survey
Identifying factors that increase the likelihood of victimisation and injury reveals the considerable variability across groups and between incidents. It also allows the efficient allocation of prevention resources to protect those at greatest risk of harm. In this study, three statistical models were developed to identify risk factors for violent victimisation, violent injury and assault-related treatment at an Emergency Department (ED). The cro…
The production and management of evidence for public service reform
English Public services depend on the production, distribution and application of evidence of effectiveness. Existing strengths of this process in the UK include many university schools closely associated with services, a strategic partnership of Research Councils, some service-specific excellence institutes and successful models for evidence management, particularly in health. However, there is little recognition that this research is fundamenta…
Skilled Action and the Double Life of Intention
In bodily intentional action, an agent exercises control over her bodily behavior. An important part of the explanation of this involves a mental state of commitment to an action plan—that is, the agent's intention. The agent's intention (or its acquisition) initiates the action, and the continuance of the intention throughout the unfolding action plays important causal roles in sustaining and guiding the action to completion. But the agent's int…
Intelligent action guidance and the use of mixed representational formats
My topic is the intelligent guidance of action. In this paper I offer an empirically grounded case for four ideas: that [a] cognitive processes of practical reasoning play a key role in the intelligent guidance of action, [b] these processes could not do so without significant enabling work done by both perception and the motor system, [c] the work done by perceptual and motor systems can be characterized as the generation of information (often c…
Risk Factors for Violent Victimisation and Injury from Six Years of the British Crime Survey
Identifying factors that increase the likelihood of victimisation and injury reveals the considerable variability across groups and between incidents. It also allows the efficient allocation of prevention resources to protect those at greatest risk of harm. In this study, three statistical models were developed to identify risk factors for violent victimisation, violent injury and assault-related treatment at an Emergency Department (ED). The cro…
The Relationship Between Alcohol Intoxication, Stressors and Injury in Urban Violence
The relationships between alcohol consumption and intoxication, stressors and injury in urban violence were investigated in parallel case control and cohort studies of injured people presenting at a large Accident and Emergency Department. Alcohol intoxication and consumption were assessed using the breath analysis and diary method, stressors were assessed using the Holmes and Rahle Life Style Score for the periods up to one week; more than one w…
Scientific Challenges to Free Will and Moral Responsibility
Here, I review work from three lines of research in cognitive science often taken to threaten free will and moral responsibility. This work concerns conscious deciding, the experience of acting, and the role of largely unnoticed situational influences on behavior. Whether this work in fact threatens free will and moral responsibility depends on how we ought to interpret it, and depends as well on the nature of free and responsible behavior. I dis…
The production and management of evidence for public service reform
English Public services depend on the production, distribution and application of evidence of effectiveness. Existing strengths of this process in the UK include many university schools closely associated with services, a strategic partnership of Research Councils, some service-specific excellence institutes and successful models for evidence management, particularly in health. However, there is little recognition that this research is fundamenta…
Practical Structure and Moral Skill
I argue that moral skill is limited and precarious. It is limited because global moral skill-the capacity for morally excellent behaviour within an über action domain, such as the domain of living, or of all-things-considered decisions, or the same kind of capacity applied across a superset of more specific action domains-is not to be found in humans. It is precarious because relatively local moral skill, while possible, is prone to misfire. My a…
Towards Multi-Agency Violence Prevention and Victim Support: An Investigation of Police-Accident and Emergency Service Liaison
Since many serious violent offences are not reported, effective police-accident and emergency department (AED) joint working is important in increasing the chances of offenders being brought to justice and increasing access to victim support services. The research was driven by hypotheses that detection is hindered by poor liaison; that the roles of AED personnel are confused; that treatment of injured victims is not based on an ethical framework…
Austral‐Asia
The Relationship Between Alcohol Intoxication, Stressors and Injury in Urban Violence
The relationships between alcohol consumption and intoxication, stressors and injury in urban violence were investigated in parallel case control and cohort studies of injured people presenting at a large Accident and Emergency Department. Alcohol intoxication and consumption were assessed using the breath analysis and diary method, stressors were assessed using the Holmes and Rahle Life Style Score for the periods up to one week; more than one w…
Towards Multi-Agency Violence Prevention and Victim Support: An Investigation of Police-Accident and Emergency Service Liaison
Since many serious violent offences are not reported, effective police-accident and emergency department (AED) joint working is important in increasing the chances of offenders being brought to justice and increasing access to victim support services. The research was driven by hypotheses that detection is hindered by poor liaison; that the roles of AED personnel are confused; that treatment of injured victims is not based on an ethical framework…
Young people and healthy eating: A systematic review of research on barriers and facilitators
The production and management of evidence for public service reform
English Public services depend on the production, distribution and application of evidence of effectiveness. Existing strengths of this process in the UK include many university schools closely associated with services, a strategic partnership of Research Councils, some service-specific excellence institutes and successful models for evidence management, particularly in health. However, there is little recognition that this research is fundamenta…
The reduction of intoxication and disorder in premises licensed to serve alcohol: An exploratory randomised controlled trial
Medical Research Council (G0701758) to Simon Moore, Simon Murphy, Laurence Moore and Jonathan Shepherd
Risk Factors for Violent Victimisation and Injury from Six Years of the British Crime Survey
Identifying factors that increase the likelihood of victimisation and injury reveals the considerable variability across groups and between incidents. It also allows the efficient allocation of prevention resources to protect those at greatest risk of harm. In this study, three statistical models were developed to identify risk factors for violent victimisation, violent injury and assault-related treatment at an Emergency Department (ED). The cro…
Free will and consciousness: Experimental studies
What are the folk-conceptual connections between free will and consciousness? In this paper I present results which indicate that consciousness plays central roles in folk conceptions of free will. When conscious states cause behavior, people tend to judge that the agent acted freely. And when unconscious states cause behavior, people tend to judge that the agent did not act freely. Further, these studies contribute to recent experimental work on…
OP44 Trends in Community Violence in England and Wales 2005-2009
Background Recognising the need for clarity in national violence trends, injury records from Emergency Departments (EDs) have been studied over the last decade as part of the work of the National Violence Surveillance Network (NVSN) and provide information about local, regional and national violence levels and trends in England and Wales. The purpose of the current study is to evaluate overall, gender, age-specific and regional trends in communit…
Geronimo
Journal Article Geronimo Get access Robert M. Utley. (New Haven: Yale University Press, 2012. xii, 348 pp. $30.00.) Journal of American History, Volume 101, Issue 3, December 2014, Page 949, https://doi.org/10.1093/jahist/jau664 Published: 01 December 2014
Scientific Challenges to Free Will and Moral Responsibility
Here, I review work from three lines of research in cognitive science often taken to threaten free will and moral responsibility. This work concerns conscious deciding, the experience of acting, and the role of largely unnoticed situational influences on behavior. Whether this work in fact threatens free will and moral responsibility depends on how we ought to interpret it, and depends as well on the nature of free and responsible behavior. I dis…
Skilled Action and the Double Life of Intention
In bodily intentional action, an agent exercises control over her bodily behavior. An important part of the explanation of this involves a mental state of commitment to an action plan—that is, the agent's intention. The agent's intention (or its acquisition) initiates the action, and the continuance of the intention throughout the unfolding action plays important causal roles in sustaining and guiding the action to completion. But the agent's int…
Determinism and attributions of consciousness
The studies we report indicate that it is possible to manipulate explicit ascriptions of consciousness by manipulating whether an agent's behavior is deterministically caused. In addition, we explore whether this impact of determinism on consciousness is direct, or whether it is mediated by notions linked to agency - notions like moral responsibility, free will, deliberate choice, and sensitivity to moral reasons. We provide evidence of mediation…
Skill and Sensitivity to Reasons
In this paper I explore the relationship between skill and sensitivity to reasons for action. I want to know to what degree we can explain the fact that the skilled agent is very good at performing a cluster of actions within some domain in terms of the fact that the skilled agent has a refined sensitivity to the reasons for action common to the cluster. The picture is a little bit complex. While skill can be partially explained by sensitivity to…
Mark Lardas, The Glorious First of June 1794 (Joshua Shepherd)
Mark Lardas, Spanish Galleon vs English Galleon 1550-1605 (Joshua Shepherd)
Unconscious perception and central coordinating agency
One necessary condition on any adequate account of perception is clarity regarding whether unconscious perception exists. The issue is complicated, and the debate is growing in both philosophy and science. In this paper we consider the case for unconscious perception, offering three primary achievements. First, we offer a discussion of the underspecified notion of central coordinating agency, a notion that is critical for arguments that purported…
Intelligent action guidance and the use of mixed representational formats
My topic is the intelligent guidance of action. In this paper I offer an empirically grounded case for four ideas: that [a] cognitive processes of practical reasoning play a key role in the intelligent guidance of action, [b] these processes could not do so without significant enabling work done by both perception and the motor system, [c] the work done by perceptual and motor systems can be characterized as the generation of information (often c…
Flow and the dynamics of conscious thought
The flow construct has been influential within positive psychology, sport psychology, the science of consciousness, the philosophy of agency, and popular culture. In spite of its longstanding influence, it remains unclear [a] how the constituents of the flow state ‘hang together’—how they relate to each other causally and functionally—[b] in what sense flow is an ‘optimal experience,’ and [c] how best to describe the unique phenomenology of the f…
John Grehan and Alexander Nicoll, Saipan 1944: The Most Decisive Battle of the Pacific War (Joshua Shepherd)
Practical Structure and Moral Skill
I argue that moral skill is limited and precarious. It is limited because global moral skill-the capacity for morally excellent behaviour within an über action domain, such as the domain of living, or of all-things-considered decisions, or the same kind of capacity applied across a superset of more specific action domains-is not to be found in humans. It is precarious because relatively local moral skill, while possible, is prone to misfire. My a…
Knowledge, Practical Knowledge, and Intentional Action
We argue that any strong version of a knowledge condition on intentional action, the practical knowledge principle, on which knowledge of what I am doing (under some description: call it A-ing) is necessary for that A-ing to qualify as an intentional action, is false. Our argument involves a new kind of case, one that centers the agent’s control appropriately and thus improves upon Davidson’s well-known carbon copier case. After discussing this c…
Joseph Wheelan, Bitter Peleliu: The Forgotten Struggle on the Pacific War’s Worst Battlefield by Joshua Shepherd
Intentional action and knowledge-centered theories of control
Intentional action is, in some sense, non-accidental, and one common way action theorists have attempted to explain this is with reference to control. The idea, in short, is that intentional action implicates control, and control precludes accidentality. But in virtue of what, exactly, would exercising control over an action suffice to make it non-accidental in whatever sense is required for the action to be intentional? One interesting and prima…
Sentience, Vulcans, and zombies: The value of phenomenal consciousness
Many think that a specific aspect of phenomenal consciousness—valenced or affective experience—is essential to consciousness’s moral significance (valence sentientism). They hold that valenced experience is necessary for well-being, or moral status, or psychological intrinsic value (or all three). Some think that phenomenal consciousness generally is necessary for non-derivative moral significance (broad sentientism). Few think that consciousness…
Psychology (15 works) · Epistemology (11 works) · Philosophy (11 works) · Psychology of Moral and Emotional Judgment (8 works) · Free Will and Agency (7 works) · Social Psychology (7 works) · Sociology (7 works) · Medicine (6 works) · Cognition (5 works) · Action (physics) (4 works)