Tutta questione di abitudine? Le azioni abituali nella relazione con l’ambiente sociale

In both the philosophy and the cognitive science of action, habitual and intentional actions tend to be neatly distinguished. Recently, several authors have suggested that mechanisms of habituation may underlie the diffusion of pernicious social biases. This paper aims to investigate the role of habits in the processes of stabilizing, and potentially reforming, existing social practices. Since they are less demanding in terms of the cognitive investment and response time they require, habits represent an indispensable cognitive tool. The key question, at the intersection of the individual and the collective dimension, is, therefore, how to form habits that are epistemically grounded and socially beneficial.