ABSTRACT

One of the most basic and important distinctions we draw is between those entities with the capacity of agency and those without. As humans we enjoy agency in its full-blooded form and therefore a proper understanding of the nature of agency is of great importance to appreciate who we are and what we should expect and demand of our existence.

The Routledge Handbook of Philosophy of Agency is an outstanding reference source to the key issues, problems, and debates in this exciting subject and is the first collection of its kind. Comprising 42 chapters by an international team of contributors, the Handbook is divided into eight clear parts:

  • The Metaphysics of Agency
  • Kinds of Agency
  • Agency and Ability
  • Agency: Mind, Body, and World
  • Agency and Knowledge
  • Agency and Moral Psychology
  • Agency and Time
  • Agency, Reasoning, and Normativity.

A broad range of topics are covered, including the relation of agency to causation, teleology, animal agency, intentionality, planning, skills, disability, practical knowledge, self-knowledge, the will, responsibility, autonomy, identification, emotions, personal identity, reasons, morality, the law, aesthetics, and games.

The Routledge Handbook of Philosophy of Agency is essential reading for students and researchers within philosophy of action, philosophy of mind, metaphysics, philosophy of psychology, and ethics.

part 1|67 pages

The metaphysics of agency

chapter 2|10 pages

Agency, function, and teleology

chapter 3|12 pages

Agency, events, and processes

chapter 4|9 pages

Negative agency

chapter 5|9 pages

Bounded agency 1

chapter 6|9 pages

Agency and games

part 2|38 pages

Kinds of agency

chapter 7|10 pages

Minimal agency

chapter 8|8 pages

Animal agency

chapter 9|9 pages

Intentional agency

chapter 10|7 pages

Rational agency

part 3|53 pages

Agency and ability

chapter 11|9 pages

Agency, powers, and skills

chapter 12|10 pages

Expert agency

chapter 13|10 pages

Agency and mistakes

chapter 14|10 pages

Agency and disability

chapter 15|9 pages

Pathologies of agency

part 4|41 pages

Agency: mind, body, and world

chapter 16|9 pages

Mental agency

chapter 17|9 pages

Agency and the body

chapter 18|10 pages

Agency, consciousness, and attention

chapter 19|9 pages

Material agency

part 5|41 pages

Agency and knowledge

chapter 20|8 pages

Epistemic agency

chapter 21|10 pages

Agency and practical knowledge

chapter 23|9 pages

Agency and self-knowledge

part 6|66 pages

Agency and moral psychology

chapter 24|9 pages

Agency, will, and freedom

chapter 25|9 pages

Agency and responsibility

chapter 26|10 pages

Agency and identification

chapter 27|9 pages

Agency and autonomy

chapter 29|12 pages

Agency and the emotions

part 7|65 pages

Agency and time

chapter 30|12 pages

Diachronic agency

chapter 31|9 pages

Planning agency

chapter 32|9 pages

Agency, time, and rationality

chapter 34|9 pages

Agency and personal identity

chapter 35|9 pages

Agency, narrative, and mortality

part 8|72 pages

Agency, reasoning, and normativity

chapter 36|9 pages

Agency, reasons and rationality

chapter 38|9 pages

Agency and normativity

chapter 39|10 pages

The aim of agency

chapter 40|8 pages

Agency and morality

chapter 41|8 pages

Agency in the law

chapter 42|11 pages

Aesthetic agency