Conceptual Inventory

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Agency (General, or Minimal)

The capacity of a system to act on its own behalf: to initiate, sustain and terminate activities within an environment.

References:

Kauffman, S.A. (2000). Investigations. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Allied Concepts:
Agency (Collective), Agency (Intentional), Agential Explanation, Exploratory Behavior, Niche construction, Work-Constraint Cycle
Related Clusters:
Agency and Directionality in Development, Agential Behavior and Plasticity in Evolution, Higher-Level Agency and Directionality in Ecology and Earth Science, Modeling Agency Formally
Topical Filter:
Agency and Autonomy

Agential Explanation

A form of explanation that involves reference to the goals (real or apparent) of agents. Here “agents” should be understood as entities exhibiting at least minimal agency. See “Agency (General, or Minimal).”

References:

Okasha, S. (2018). Agents and goals in evolution. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Allied Concepts:
Agency (Collective), Agency (General, or Minimal), Agency (Intentional), Niche construction, Teleology
Related Clusters:
Agency and Directionality in Development, Agential Behavior and Plasticity in Evolution, Higher-Level Agency and Directionality in Ecology and Earth Science, Modeling Agency Formally, (Re)Conceptualizing Function and Goal-Directedness
Topical Filter:
Agency and Autonomy, Models of agency and cooperation
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