Wissenschaftskolleg zu Berlin: Habit and Attention

Workshop 2025/2026 | Fellow Forum

Habit and Attention

12.–13. März 2026

Habits, understood as actions carried out with minimal conscious oversight, have long intrigued thinkers because they blur the boundary between innate and acquired dispositions. Attention, by contrast, denotes the mind’s deliberate orientation. Both are conceptually interdependent: attention can crystallize into habit and conversely disrupt or reshape habitual patterns, a dynamic explored historically in philosophy, theology, aesthetics, and cognitive practice. In light of contemporary concerns—especially digital distraction—the workshop seeks to unite scholars and practitioners to examine how cultivating resilient habits of attentiveness can inform ethical, clinical, and contemplative approaches across disciplines.