Agency (philosophy)
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Agency is the capacity of an actor to act in a given environment. It is independent of the moral dimension, which is called moral agency.
In sociology, an agent is an individual engaging with the social structure. Notably, though, the primacy of social structure vs. individual capacity with regard to persons' actions is debated within sociology. This debate concerns, at least partly, the level of reflexivity an agent may possess.[citation needed]
Agency may either be classified as unconscious, involuntary behavior, or purposeful, goal directed activity (intentional action). An agent typically has some sort of immediate awareness of their physical activity and the goals that the activity is aimed at realizing. In ‘goal directed action’ an agent implements a kind of direct control or guidance over their own behavior.[1]
Human agency
Agency is contrasted to objects reacting to
The capacity of a human to act as an agent is
In philosophy
The philosophical discipline in charge of studying agency is
Structure and agency forms an enduring core debate in sociology. Essentially the same as in the
In other sciences
Other notions of agency have arisen in the field of economics/management, psychology and social cybernetics:
In economics (contract theory)
Economic agency is an internal instrumentality through which external influences operate mechanistically on performance. Internal agency events are a reflection of the impact of external environments from which causal attributes are ignored, and the self-system is simply a repository and conduit for environmental forces.[2]
In psychology
The term of agency used in different fields of psychology with different meaning. It can refer to the ability of recognizing agents or attributing agency to objects based on simple perceptual cues or principles, for instance the principle of rationality,[3][4] which holds that context-sensitive, goal-directed efficient actions are the crucial characteristics of agents. This topic is thoroughly investigated by developmental and comparative psychologists to understand how an observer is able to differentiate agentive entities from inanimate objects, but it can be also related to the term of autonomous intelligent agency used in cybernetics. Agency can also imply the sense of agency, that is the feeling of being in control.
Emergent interactive agency defines Bandura's view of agencies, where human agency can be exercised through direct personal agency.
In social cybernetics
Autonomous agency is able to embrace the concepts of both the economic agency and the emergent interactive agency. An autonomous system is self-directed, operating in, and being influenced by, interactive environments. It usually has its own immanent dynamics that impact on the way it interacts. It is also adaptable and (hence viable thus having a durable existence), proactive, self-organizing, self-regulating and so forth, participates in creating its own behaviour, and contributes to its life circumstances through cognitive and cultural functionality. Autonomous agency may also be concerned with the relationship between two or more agencies in a mutual relationship with each other and their environments, with imperatives for an agency's behaviour within an interactive context due to immanent emergent attributes.[7]
In political economy
Human agency refers to the ability to shape one’s life and a few dimensions can be differentiated. Individual agency is reflected in individual choices and the ability to influence one’s life conditions and chances. The individual agency differs strongly within the society across age, gender, income, education, personal health status, position in social networks, and other dimensions. Collective agency refers to situations in which individuals pool their knowledge, skills, and resources, and act in concert to shape their future. Everyday agency refers to consumer and daily choices, and finally strategic agency refers to the capacity to affect the wider system change. Political economy approaches can be used to conceptualize the agency enabling or limiting rule system, which constitutes the “grammar” for social action and that is used by the actors to structure and regulate their transactions with one another in defined situations or spheres of activity.[8]
See also
- Action theory (philosophy)
- Actor–network theory
- Agency (sociology)
- Agency (psychology)
- Sense of agency
- Collective intentionality
- Corporate personhood
- Intentionality
- Nature and nurture
- Social action
- True Will
References
- ^ Wilson, George; Shpall, Samuel (4 April 2012). "Action". Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy.
- JSTOR 1817064.
- S2CID 4973766.
- S2CID 5897671.
- S2CID 11573665. Retrieved 27 September 2016.
- ^ Bandura, A. (1986). Social Foundations of Thought and Action: A Social Cognitive Theory, Prentice-Hall, Englewood Cliffs, NJ Bormann, 1996
- ^ Guo, K.J., Yolles, M., Fink, G., Iles, P., 2016, The Changing Organisation: Agency Theory in a Cross-cultural Context, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
- .
Further reading
- Bandura, A. (2001). "Social Cognitive Theory: An Agentic Perspective". Annual Review of Psychology. 52 (1): 1–26. S2CID 11573665. – Describes the form of agency.
- Juarrero, Alicia (1999). Dynamics in Action: Intentional Behavior as a Complex System (MIT Press). Examines agency from the perspective of complexity theory. Reconceptualizes intentional causality in terms of whole-part context-sensitive constraints.