Judith Martens
I am a philosopher working on philosophical psychology with a special interest in groups, habits and skills, fragmented mind, and normativity.
Habitual Being
What makes who you are and what you do so typically you? Is it how much you have thought about your motives? Or is it about your habits and skills?
Studies in cognitive science and social psychology show us an image of humans as fragmented minds. Much of our cognition is fast, unconscious, inaccessible to us as agents. Yet this is not how we experience ourselves, or how we think about ourselves and others.
But that doesn't mean we should lean to the other side of the dichotomy and understand ourselves as intellectual, thinking beings. That would be a caricature image too.
In my work I try to combine these insights and think about humans as both intellectual and habitual.
My background
For as long as I can remember, I have been interested in understanding individual and collective human agency at a fundamental level. This is reflected in my primary research areas: philosophy of mind, philosophy of action, and the cognitive sciences; and in my focus on the intersection of philosophical and psychological work on joint action, automaticity, and skillful action.
As an academic, I am trying to find a balance between the purely academic, public outreach, and institutional organizing. Do reach out if you are interested in my work or see potential for applications.
New? Start Here
Read more about the different topics I work on under the heading projects. Or check out my blog posts (in Dutch).
You can also browse my material and thoughts on teaching.