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The notion of agency and the material engagement theory : An Agentive statement

Mendoza-Collazos, Juan Carlos LU orcid (2019)
12th Conference of the International Association for Visual Semiotics p.27-27
Abstract
Malafouris (2013) proposes that agency is an emergent product of the relational ontology of our material engagement. However, I suggest a distinction between meaning and agency for a better understanding of our relational ontology with things. Meaning is the payoff of the relational ontology, meaning emerges when an agent act within the world. Agency is the capability to act, signify, produce and obtain meaning, and this capability is exclusive of living organisms. The distinction does not imply to fall in Cartesianism. Agentive semiotics (Niño 2015; Mendoza-Collazos 2016), for instance, is far from an anthropocentric or Cartesian conception of the way the agency operates. The treatment that agentive semiotics proposes for the... (More)
Malafouris (2013) proposes that agency is an emergent product of the relational ontology of our material engagement. However, I suggest a distinction between meaning and agency for a better understanding of our relational ontology with things. Meaning is the payoff of the relational ontology, meaning emerges when an agent act within the world. Agency is the capability to act, signify, produce and obtain meaning, and this capability is exclusive of living organisms. The distinction does not imply to fall in Cartesianism. Agentive semiotics (Niño 2015; Mendoza-Collazos 2016), for instance, is far from an anthropocentric or Cartesian conception of the way the agency operates. The treatment that agentive semiotics proposes for the exclusiveness of agency in living organisms could enhance the force of Malafouris' relational approach, explaining the key role of material culture without methodological fetishism.
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Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
author
organization
publishing date
type
Contribution to conference
publication status
published
subject
keywords
agency, cognitive semiotics, design semiotics, agentive semiotics, semiotics
pages
1 pages
conference name
<br/>12th Conference of the International Association for Visual Semiotics
conference location
Lund, Sweden
conference dates
2019-08-22 - 2019-08-24
language
English
LU publication?
yes
additional info
This paper is one-author paper, it was presented in a round table for discussion on agency with other authors and plenary speakers.
id
a543b85c-35e8-4606-bc55-eaba7df73edf
alternative location
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/338554502_The_notion_of_agency_and_the_material_engagement_theory_An_Agentive_statement
date added to LUP
2019-10-11 13:52:53
date last changed
2022-01-18 02:20:00
@misc{a543b85c-35e8-4606-bc55-eaba7df73edf,
  abstract     = {{Malafouris (2013) proposes that agency is an emergent product of the relational ontology of our material engagement.  However, I suggest a distinction between meaning and agency for a better understanding of our relational ontology with things. Meaning is the payoff of the relational ontology, meaning emerges when an agent act within the world. Agency is the capability to act, signify, produce and obtain meaning, and this capability is exclusive of living organisms. The distinction does not imply to fall in Cartesianism. Agentive semiotics (Niño 2015; Mendoza-Collazos 2016), for instance, is far from an anthropocentric or Cartesian conception of the way the agency operates. The treatment that agentive semiotics proposes for the exclusiveness of agency in living organisms could enhance the force of Malafouris' relational approach, explaining the key role of material culture without methodological fetishism.<br/>}},
  author       = {{Mendoza-Collazos, Juan Carlos}},
  keywords     = {{agency; cognitive semiotics; design semiotics; agentive semiotics; semiotics}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  pages        = {{27--27}},
  title        = {{The notion of agency and the material engagement theory : An Agentive statement}},
  url          = {{https://www.researchgate.net/publication/338554502_The_notion_of_agency_and_the_material_engagement_theory_An_Agentive_statement}},
  year         = {{2019}},
}