Constraints of Agency by Craig W. Gruber Matthew G. Clark Sven Hroar Klempe & Jaan Valsiner

Author:Craig W. Gruber, Matthew G. Clark, Sven Hroar Klempe & Jaan Valsiner
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Springer International Publishing, Cham

9.5 Conclusion

The purpose of this section was to address the neurobiology of key elements of agency in a comprehensive and axiomatic way. A search of phrase utilization (called “ngrams”) in the Google Ngram Viewer from the roughly 5.2 million books included in the Google Books archive shows that from roughly 1980 to 2000, use and growth of the terms “human agency” and “neuroscience” track tightly suggesting an association between the two (“Google Ngram Viewer,” n.d.). Accordingly, this section of the volume was intended to integrate research on these areas and presents their relative value in the context of other topics related to agency, including the history and broader philosophical considerations.

The empirical and theoretical considerations addressed suggest that “agency” is not a singular concept. The difficulty in describing, defining, and researching this topic and its neural correlates clearly suggests that agency must be subdivided into at least two areas for further exploration: conscious agency and unconscious agency. For those that contend that this is a uniquely human capacity, then we can use Toates’ construct to examine agency within Systems 1 and 2, respectively, to organize the relative inputs and outputs.

On the whole, the question remains regarding the neurobiology of agency. Is there a “conatogram” or “conatograms” that account for agency and consciousness? Alternatively, is there a ghost in the machine? Decidedly, research is required to further answer these questions. The ideas presented by the four commentators provide a clear point of departure for further consideration and research into the neural correlates of agency. At least among this collection of scientists, there is a sense that agency and consciousness are very likely centered and diffusely distributed within and across the central nervous system, mostly in the brain. However, the exact location of the CIPs or conatograms that comprise all related elements of agency will require novel research approaches to parse out the relevant and specific components involved.

In conclusion, at least among psychologists who are interested in neurobiology, neurophysiology, and the link to behavior, it is clear that agency provides a very useful concept for consideration of behavior produced by animals. This section also reveals that at least at this time, the concept of free will is not useful in most academic pursuits at this time. I would like to echo the thoughts of Klemm from his response to the commentators in that hopefully we can use his axioms and propositions for further critical analysis and research into the topic of human agency.

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