Rosslenbroich Bernd, Kümmell Susanna, Bembé Benjamin
Institute of Evolutionary Biology and Morphology Centre for Biomedical Education and Research, Faculty of Health, School of Medicine, Witten/Herdecke University, Witten, Germany.
Alanus University of Arts and Social Sciences, Alfter, Germany.
Biol Theory. 2024;19(4):224-236. doi: 10.1007/s13752-024-00471-7. Epub 2024 Aug 14.
A central characteristic of living organisms is their agency, that is, their intrinsic activity, both in terms of their basic life processes and their behavior in the environment. This aspect is currently a subject of debate and this article provides an overview of some of the relevant publications on this topic. We develop the argument that agency is immanent in living organisms. There is no life without agency. Even the basic life processes are an intrinsic activity, which we call the organismic level of agency. In addition to this we describe several further levels. These capture different qualities that occur or transform during evolution. In addition to the organismic level, we propose an ontogenetic level, a level of directed agency, directed agency with extended flexibility, and a level that includes the capacities to follow preconceived goals. A further property of organisms is their autonomy. It has been shown that the capacity for autonomy changed during evolution. Here we propose that the two organismic properties autonomy and agency are closely related. Enhanced physiological and behavioral autonomy extends the scope of self-generated, flexible actions and reactions. The increase in autonomy through the evolution of a widened scope of behavioral possibilities and versatility in organisms coincides with extended levels of agency. Especially the human organization, including the sophisticated brain, is the basis for an extended level of agency referring to the capacities to follow preconceived goals. However, it is important for the understanding of the phenomenon of agency not only to assume this latter form, but also to look at the different levels of agency.
生物体的一个核心特征是其能动性，也就是说，无论是就其基本生命过程还是在环境中的行为而言，它们都具有内在活性。目前这一方面是一个争论的话题，本文概述了一些关于该主题的相关出版物。我们提出这样的观点：能动性在生物体中是内在固有的。没有能动性就没有生命。即使是基本生命过程也是一种内在活性，我们称之为生物体的能动性水平。除此之外，我们还描述了几个其他水平。这些水平体现了在进化过程中出现或转变的不同特质。除了生物体水平，我们提出了个体发生水平、定向能动性水平、具有扩展灵活性的定向能动性水平以及包括遵循先入为主目标能力的水平。生物体的另一个特性是其自主性。研究表明，自主性能力在进化过程中发生了变化。在此我们提出，自主性和能动性这两个生物体特性密切相关。增强的生理和行为自主性扩展了自我产生的灵活行动和反应的范围。生物体通过行为可能性范围和多功能性的进化而实现的自主性增加，与能动性水平的扩展是一致的。特别是人类组织，包括复杂的大脑，是涉及遵循先入为主目标能力的扩展能动性水平的基础。然而，对于理解能动性现象而言，重要的不仅是假设后一种形式，还要审视能动性的不同水平。
