The tangled web of agency

Area of Science:

• Philosophy of Mind
• Social Epistemology
• Ethics

Background:

• Doris's theory integrates anti-reflectivism, collaborativism, and valuation.
• It posits that cognition, agency, and selves are socially embedded.
• The theory also includes a disentanglement dimension for responsibility attribution.

Purpose of the Study:

• To characterize Doris's anti-reflectivist, collaborativist, valuational theory.
• To analyze the theory along the dimensions of social entanglement and disentanglement.
• To identify and present the problem of bad company as a challenge to the account.

Main Methods:

• Conceptual analysis of Doris's theory.
• Examination of social entanglement in cognition, agency, and selves.
• Analysis of the disentanglement dimension concerning agency and responsibility.
• Identification of the "bad company" problem.

Main Results:

• Doris's theory is characterized by social entanglement, where individuals are socially embedded.
• The theory incorporates disentanglement, enabling responsibility attribution to distinct actors.
• The problem of bad company emerges as a significant challenge to this framework.

Conclusions:

• Doris's theory offers a nuanced view of social embedding and responsibility.
• The "bad company" problem necessitates further refinement of the theory's scope.
• Further research is needed to address how social entanglement impacts responsibility attribution in complex social contexts.