Introduction

Self-evidencing occurs when a model of the world exists because it is used to explain what is observed such that the explained observations become the evidence for the model.This book argues that there is good reason to cast the existence of biological agents, such as humans, in terms of selfevidencing-that is, we are self-evidencing agents.If we begin from self-evidencing, then we can use it as a first-principles method to understand what we are, how we experience the world and ourselves, and how we engage in diverse ways with the world.Self-evidencing can help situate attention, action, and perception.It also furnishes compelling approaches to decision-making and rationality, to the self, and to preferences, volition, and values.It can build bridges to consciousness, and even to free will and to meaning and wisdom.I want in this book to use self-evidencing to make sense of what I see as the whole, diverse spectrum of everyday experiences and our attempts to live well.We are embodied creatures, we are conscious, we make decisions, and we enjoy some degree of autonomy.We sometimes connect strongly and fluidly to ourselves, to others and the world around us.Other times, our bodies betray us, we feel disconnected from who we are ourselves or from others and the world, and we feel out of control or controlled by circumstances.We can often perceive the world accurately, but what we see is also filtered through what we want and believe.We can be fully connected throughout the flow of an absorbing task, caught up in the moment, but we also can be profoundly detached from the external world, lost in thought, mind-wandering, or dreaming.Although our individual human experiences have many features in common with those of other people, there are extraordinary differences and diversity in every person's lifelong trajectory through everyday experience, in our diverse sense of self and body, in the kinds of things we 1