Conscious will is a post hoc illusion explaining past behavior

Evidence

Wegner (2002) also proposed a selective-controllability solution for the pesky morality problem in terms of his conceptual model that Nahmias (2002) calls “modular epiphenomenalism.” In this view, environmental inputs sub-consciously activate both the action system and an epiphenomenal interpretive module that creates post hoc explanations of behavior. This module cannot affect how one behaves because it is disconnected from the action system. Wagner calls this noncausal module a “loose end” that concocts post hoc, spurious explanations for one’s actions under the illusion that one caused them. — Albert Bandura, Moral Disengagement, 319

Categorization

• corroborated: 2 independent passages support this claim — Albert Bandura, Moral Disengagement: How People Do Harm…, 319