“My Attitude Made Me Do It”: Considering the Agency of Attitudes [Book Review]

Human Studies 33 (1):85-101 (2010)
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Abstract

In proposing a next step in loosening the restriction of action to humans, this paper explores what we call the agency of attitudes and especially the ethical and practical questions that such recognition should entail. In line with Actor-Network Theory, we suggest that attitudes, passions and emotions can be seen to have agency in a similar vein as tangible agents (e.g., technological devices, texts, machines). We illustrate this suggestion using an example of socialization towards pain experienced during sports. Finally, we propose that the awareness of attitude’s agency extends rather than reduces the ownership of choice of people, as it facilitates making “true decisions.”.

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References found in this work

Reassembling the Social: An Introduction to the Actor-Network Theory.Bruno Latour - 2005 - Oxford, England and New York, NY, USA: Oxford University Press.
We have never been modern.Bruno Latour - 1993 - Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press.
Pandora’s hope.Bruno Latour - 1999 - Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press.
Politics of nature: how to bring the sciences into democracy.Bruno Latour - 2004 - Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press.

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