Human agency is the capacity for [[human being]]s to make [[choices]] and to impose those choices on the world. It is normally contrasted to [[natural]] [[force]]s, which are causes involving only unthinking [[Determinism|deterministic processes]]. In this respect, agency is subtly distinct from the concept of [[free will]], the philosophical doctrine that our choices are not the product of causal chains, but are significantly free or undetermined. Human agency entails the uncontroversial, weaker claim that humans do in fact make decisions and enact them on the world. How humans come to make decisions, by free choice or other processes, is another issue. | Human agency is the capacity for [[human being]]s to make [[choices]] and to impose those choices on the world. It is normally contrasted to [[natural]] [[force]]s, which are causes involving only unthinking [[Determinism|deterministic processes]]. In this respect, agency is subtly distinct from the concept of [[free will]], the philosophical doctrine that our choices are not the product of causal chains, but are significantly free or undetermined. Human agency entails the uncontroversial, weaker claim that humans do in fact make decisions and enact them on the world. How humans come to make decisions, by free choice or other processes, is another issue. |