Natural Agency

Natural Agency PDF Author: John Christopher Bishop
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 9780521374309
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 228

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Book Description
From a moral point of view we think of ourselves as capable of responsible actions. From a scientific point of view we think of ourselves as animals whose behavior, however highly evolved, conforms to natural scientific laws. Natural Agency argues that these different perspectives can be reconciled, despite the skepticism of many philosophers who have argued that "free will" is impossible under "scientific determinism." This skepticism is best overcome according to the author, by defending a causal theory of action, that is by establishing that actions are constituted by behavioral events with the appropriate kind of mental causal history. He sets out a rich and subtle argument for such a theory and defends it against its critics. Thus the book demonstrates the importance of philosophical work in action theory for the central metaphysical task of understanding our place in nature.

Natural Agency

Natural Agency PDF Author: John Christopher Bishop
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 9780521374309
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 228

Get Book Here

Book Description
From a moral point of view we think of ourselves as capable of responsible actions. From a scientific point of view we think of ourselves as animals whose behavior, however highly evolved, conforms to natural scientific laws. Natural Agency argues that these different perspectives can be reconciled, despite the skepticism of many philosophers who have argued that "free will" is impossible under "scientific determinism." This skepticism is best overcome according to the author, by defending a causal theory of action, that is by establishing that actions are constituted by behavioral events with the appropriate kind of mental causal history. He sets out a rich and subtle argument for such a theory and defends it against its critics. Thus the book demonstrates the importance of philosophical work in action theory for the central metaphysical task of understanding our place in nature.

Poststructuralist Agency

Poststructuralist Agency PDF Author: Gavin Rae
Publisher: Edinburgh University Press
ISBN: 1474459382
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 288

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Book Description
Gavin Rae shows that the problematic status of agency caused by the poststructuralist decentring of the subject is a central concern for poststructuralist thinkers. He shows how this plays out in the thinking of Deleuze, Derrida and Foucault, and find the best explanation of agency for the founded subject in the work of Castoriadis.

Animals and Agency

Animals and Agency PDF Author: Sarah E. McFarland
Publisher: BRILL
ISBN: 9004175806
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 393

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Book Description
While many scholars who write about animals deal with animal agency in some way, this volume is the first to position the question of nonhuman agency as the primary focus of inquiry. Section I presents studies of actual animals demonstrating agency; Section II moves agency into new terrain while considering key representations of animal agency in literature; Section III analyzes animals as mediators and as conveyances of human-to-human communication;and Section IV investigates the agency of beings who defy conventional species categories. The Envoi demonstrates how the microscopic polyp is interwoven into notions of agency and mythical superagency. This volume's interdisciplinary explorations press hard on issues of agency to open up space for more questions about how we can understand relationships between the human and the nonhuman.

Agency in Archaeology

Agency in Archaeology PDF Author: Marcia-Anne Dobres
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1317959396
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 292

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Book Description
Agency in Archaeology is the first critical volume to scrutinise the concept of agency and to examine in-depth its potential to inform our understanding of the past. Theories of agency recognise that human beings make choices, hold intentions and take action. This offers archaeologists scope to move beyond looking at broad structural or environmental change and instead to consider the individual and the group Agency in Archaeology brings together nineteen internationally renowned scholars who have very different, and often conflicting, stances on the meaning and use of agency theory to archaeology. The volume is composed of five theoretically-based discussions and nine case studies, drawing on regions from North America and Mesoamerica to Western and central Europe, and ranging in subject from the late Pleistocene hunter-gatherers to the restructuring of gender relations in the north-eastern US.

Action, Freedom and Responsibility

Action, Freedom and Responsibility PDF Author: Subasini Barik
Publisher: DK Printworld (P) Ltd
ISBN: 8124611122
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 175

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Book Description
This book, a work on human doing, analyses and applies three central aspects of human life – Action, Freedom and Responsibility – in the wide spectrum of the Philosophy of Mind. Reflections on these issues and their interconnections have a significant effect on the Philosophy of Value and application of ethical theories in practical life. This book even reconstructs the conceptual connection between action and freedom, on the one hand, and that between freedom and responsibility, on the other. It also puts the concepts of freedom and determinism to critical test and reinterprets them from different angles and perspectives. The conventional doctrine of karma, based on the teachings of the BhagavadgÁtÀ, is relieved from its usual deterministic presentation and a logically reasonable explanation is offered. Human actions and human agency are central concepts in the philosophy of mind and action. Free will and responsibility constitute the bedrock of the moral life of the human agents and the book pinpoints that freedom is meant to undertake the goal-oriented actions. It is, therefore, focused on the enquiry into the various aspects of philosophy of mind, as well as the philosophy of value.

Report of the Federal Security Agency

Report of the Federal Security Agency PDF Author: United States. Office of Education
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Education
Languages : en
Pages : 1206

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Book Description


Limning the Psyche

Limning the Psyche PDF Author: Robert Campbell Roberts
Publisher: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing
ISBN: 080284331X
Category : Christianity
Languages : en
Pages : 384

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Book Description
Sixteen essays by respected psychologists, theologians, and philosophers look at the practice of psychology from a Christian perspective and explore the implications of the Christian view of human nature.

Thoughts on Moral Government and Agency

Thoughts on Moral Government and Agency PDF Author: Lawrence Butterworth
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Ethics
Languages : en
Pages : 374

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Book Description


Forest Service Roadless Area Conservation: Agency responses to public comments

Forest Service Roadless Area Conservation: Agency responses to public comments PDF Author:
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Environmental impact statements
Languages : en
Pages : 232

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Book Description
This describes a strategy for conserving National Forest System inventoried roadless areas and their important values. It has an analysis of management options and the Forest Service's preferred alternative.

Reconceptualising Agency and Childhood

Reconceptualising Agency and Childhood PDF Author: Florian Esser
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1317524403
Category : Education
Languages : en
Pages : 311

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Book Description
By regarding children as actors and conducting empirical research on children’s agency, Childhood Studies have gained significant influence on a wide range of different academic disciplines. This has made agency one of the key concepts of Childhood Studies, with articles on the subject featured in handbooks and encyclopaedias. Reconceptualising Agency and Childhood is the first collection devoted to the central concept of agency in Childhood Studies. With contributions from experts in the field, the chapters cover theoretical, practical, historical, transnational and institutional dimensions of agency, rekindling discussion and introducing fundamental and contemporary sociological perspectives to the field of research. Particular attention is paid to connecting agency in the social sciences with Childhood Studies, considering both the theoretical foundations and the practice of research into agency. Empirical case studies are also explored, which focus upon child protection, schools and childcare at a variety of institutions worldwide. This book is an essential reference for students and scholars of Childhood Studies, and is also relevant to Sociology, Social Work, Education, Early Childhood Education and Care (ECEC) and Geography. Chapter 6 of this book is freely available as a downloadable Open Access PDF at http://www.taylorfrancis.com under a Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial-No Derivatives (CC-BY-NC-ND) 4.0 license.