ABSTRACT

The disappearing agent problem is an argument in the metaphysics of agency. Proponents of the agent-causal approach argue that the rival event-causal approach fails to account for the fact that an agent is active. This paper examines an analogy between this disappearing agent problem and the exclusion problem in the metaphysics of mind. I develop the analogy between these two problems and survey existing solutions. I suggest that some solutions that have received significant attention in response to the exclusion problem have seen considerably less attention in response to the disappearing agent problem. For example, one solution to the exclusion problem is to reject the exclusion assumption. Analogously, one solution to the disappearing agent problem could be to deny the claim that the agent-causal approach and the event-causal approach are mutually exclusive. Similarly, proportionality theories of causation, a solution to the exclusion problem, can be transferred to the disappearing agent problem. After establishing the plausibility of the analogy between the two problems, I examine how this latter solution in particular can be transferred from the one problem to the other.

摘要

代理消失问题是代理形而上学中的一个论点。代理因果方法的支持者认为，竞争对手的事件因果方法未能解释代理是活跃的这一事实。本文研究了这种消失的代理问题与心灵形而上学中的排除问题之间的类比。我在这两个问题之间进行类比并调查现有的解决方案。我认为，一些在解决排除问题方面受到极大关注的解决方案在解决代理消失问题时受到的关注要少得多。例如，排除问题的一种解决方案是拒绝排除假设。类似地，代理消失问题的一种解决方案可能是否认代理-因果方法和事件-因果方法相互排斥的说法。同样，因果关系的比例理论，排除问题的解决方案，可以转移到消失的代理问题。在确定这两个问题之间的类比的合理性之后，我特别检查了后一种解决方案如何从一个问题转移到另一个问题。