ABSTRACT
This chapter introduces the philosophical foundations of the concept of human agency and its importance for a humanistic understanding of culture. Human agency is a mental and physical property that is important for the expression of social and moral thought in the natural world. Supernatural agency is the expansion of social and moral attributes of agents or beings into the spiritual and religious world. Understanding of the intentionality and causality of agents arises from specialized mechanisms of the mind and its neurobiological basis. Supernatural agency entails the notion that moral reasoning is fundamental to cultural patterns of thought. Theoretical models suggest a functional role of the mental concept of agency for cultural adaptation. Understanding the role of intentionality and causality of mental agency contributes to a humanistic understanding of culture.
