Date: Sun, 24 Feb 2002 15:50:58 +0000
From: Mervyn Hartwig <mh-AT-jaspere.demon.co.uk>
Subject: Re: BHA: Persons/agents


Hi Ruth, Tobin

>What do other people think?

For what it's worth, I agree.

>At the same time, I think that quite often he does actually use "agent" and 
>"person" interchangeably. 

I think this is perhaps informally appropriate in that (emergent)
collective agency, while irreducible to that of persons, is still the
power of persons acting in certain relations to each other (e.g. the
collective worker).

Mervyn



Ruth Groff <rgroff-AT-yorku.ca> writes
>Hi Tobin,
>
>I guess that strictly speaking the question is whether or not he thinks that 
>collectivities can be bearers of  intentionality. 
>
>An interesting related question, I think, is has to do with the difference(s) 
>between collectivities and structures.  Although he sometimes (curiously, in my 
>view) sounds as though he is saying that structures are not bearers of 
>(efficient) causal powers [giving rise to Benton's charge of an implicit 
>methodological individualism in PON], for a bunch of reasons I think we have to 
>read him as thinking that structures ARE bearers of causal powers.  What they 
>are not bearers of, however, are intentions.  
>
>I don't think that there is any question that RB thinks that collectivities 
>exist, or that they have effects.  So as I said, the question is: with respect 
>to intentionality, are they more like structures or more like individuals?  My 
>hunch would be the latter, which would imply that the answer to your question 
>is 
>that "agent" is, indeed, a broader category than that of "person."  
>
>At the same time, I think that quite often he does actually use "agent" and 
>"person" interchangeably. 
>
>What do other people think?
>
>r. 
>
>
>
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