Abstract

Argues that the historical concept of agency ultimately fails since such weighing and choosing always require grounds that reach beyond private consciousness. Agency is bound inherently with morality; the modernist understanding of agency removes it from morality. It is suggested that agency is only possible on inherently moral, rather than metaphysical, grounds. An alternative conceptualization of agency as living truthfully is proposed that does not posit the existence of Cartesian ego and does not surrender to moral relativism. This concept of agency is exemplified and distinguished from volition, which is much closer to the more traditional view of agency as the capacity to choose from among alternatives. A grounding for agency in ethics is offered, suggesting that neither traditional notions, which are grounded in traditional metaphysics, nor postmodern notions, which accept ethical relativity, can render satisfactory accounts of human agency. 2012 APA, all rights reserved)