Revisiting the life of things : A cognitive semiotic study of the agency of artefacts in Amazonia
Mendoza-Collazos, Juan Carlos LU
and Sonesson, Göran
LU
(2021)
In The Public Journal of Semiotics
9(2).
p.30-52
- Abstract
- Many contemporary scholars have recently defended the idea that the agency of things is symmetrical and equivalent to human agency. We propose an alternative approach to artefacts’ agency based on a field study concerned with contextually situated observations of the process of design of artefacts in Amazonia. By means of participant observation and interviews, we address the role of artefacts in relation to human agency. In so doing, we focus on the human-unique capacity for design as it is related to cognitive resources such as intentionality, decision-making, planning, and volitional adaptations of the material world to human purposes. We argue that such cognitive resources are ultimate manifestations of human agency. The findings allow... (More)
- Many contemporary scholars have recently defended the idea that the agency of things is symmetrical and equivalent to human agency. We propose an alternative approach to artefacts’ agency based on a field study concerned with contextually situated observations of the process of design of artefacts in Amazonia. By means of participant observation and interviews, we address the role of artefacts in relation to human agency. In so doing, we focus on the human-unique capacity for design as it is related to cognitive resources such as intentionality, decision-making, planning, and volitional adaptations of the material world to human purposes. We argue that such cognitive resources are ultimate manifestations of human agency. The findings allow us to conclude that artefacts possess a special form of agency, which operates in different ways from the agency of true agents. This agency is derived: it depends on the actions of true agents, with either function as remote intentions or are required for the artefact to work at the moment of use. Thus, the relation between artefacts and agents is asymmetrical. Given that the derived agency of artefacts allows people to expand their own agency, we propose the notion of enhanced agency for the prosthetic incorporation of artefacts into the agentive capabilities of human agents. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
https://lup.lub.lu.se/record/e8bf4565-d11c-49ba-b1e1-285d3518bfce
- author
- Mendoza-Collazos, Juan Carlos
LU
and Sonesson, Göran
LU
- organization
- publishing date
- 2021
- type
- Contribution to journal
- publication status
- published
- subject
- keywords
- enhanced agency, artefacts, material agency, cognitive semiotics, design, intentionality
- in
- The Public Journal of Semiotics
- volume
- 9
- issue
- 2
- pages
- 22 pages
- publisher
- Open Semiotics Resource Center
- external identifiers
-
- scopus:85106402882
- ISSN
- 1918-9907
- DOI
- 10.37693/pjos.2020.9.22012
- project
- The role of artefacts in relation to agency
- language
- English
- LU publication?
- yes
- id
- e8bf4565-d11c-49ba-b1e1-285d3518bfce
- date added to LUP
- 2021-02-09 16:16:11
- date last changed
- 2024-02-19 17:05:24
@article{e8bf4565-d11c-49ba-b1e1-285d3518bfce,
abstract = {{Many contemporary scholars have recently defended the idea that the agency of things is symmetrical and equivalent to human agency. We propose an alternative approach to artefacts’ agency based on a field study concerned with contextually situated observations of the process of design of artefacts in Amazonia. By means of participant observation and interviews, we address the role of artefacts in relation to human agency. In so doing, we focus on the human-unique capacity for design as it is related to cognitive resources such as intentionality, decision-making, planning, and volitional adaptations of the material world to human purposes. We argue that such cognitive resources are ultimate manifestations of human agency. The findings allow us to conclude that artefacts possess a special form of agency, which operates in different ways from the agency of true agents. This agency is derived: it depends on the actions of true agents, with either function as remote intentions or are required for the artefact to work at the moment of use. Thus, the relation between artefacts and agents is asymmetrical. Given that the derived agency of artefacts allows people to expand their own agency, we propose the notion of enhanced agency for the prosthetic incorporation of artefacts into the agentive capabilities of human agents.}},
author = {{Mendoza-Collazos, Juan Carlos and Sonesson, Göran}},
issn = {{1918-9907}},
keywords = {{enhanced agency; artefacts; material agency; cognitive semiotics; design; intentionality}},
language = {{eng}},
number = {{2}},
pages = {{30--52}},
publisher = {{Open Semiotics Resource Center}},
series = {{The Public Journal of Semiotics}},
title = {{Revisiting the life of things : A cognitive semiotic study of the agency of artefacts in Amazonia}},
url = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.37693/pjos.2020.9.22012}},
doi = {{10.37693/pjos.2020.9.22012}},
volume = {{9}},
year = {{2021}},
}