Language planning and alterations in the experience of will

Ralph E. Hoffman

pp. 197-210

in: Manfred Spitzer, Michael A. Schwartz, Michael A. Schwartz (eds), Phenomenology, language & schizophrenia, Berlin, Springer, 1992

Abstract

Many of the bizarre symptoms of schizophrenia correspond to alterations in the experience of the will (Bleuler 1911/1950). Typical examples are those patients who complain that nonself forces (such as a famous individual or some more insidious force like the CIA) control their actions, thoughts or speech. The experience of an alien will has its mirror opposite—those patients who believe that they possess special abilities to influence the thoughts and actions of others. These bizarre misattributions of willfulness are all the more puzzling given experimental data indicating that the reasoning abilities of schizophrenics, in general, are intact (Maher 1974).