So, what do the people who write so much about their puzzlement over “agency” mean by the word[...]? And given what they mean, what is the real Problem of Agency that they want to solve[...]?
If they could define what they meant by the word, they wouldn’t be puzzled! You can’t ask a natural philosopher from 1820 “what do you mean by ‘vitalism’ and ‘organic’?” and expect them to say “Actually, what I meant was molecules containing chains of carbon atoms”.
Those names were fake explanations for how living things work. “Living thing” was an ordinary expression. Everyone could and can tell the difference between a dog and a rock. No-one knew how it works that some things are alive and some are not, so they gave it a name and mistook that for an explanation.
There is a real, empirical, phenomenon in chemistry. Some molecules contain carbon chains, and some molcules don’t. Usually experiments starting with carbon-chain molecules end with carbon-chain molecules, and experiments without carbon-chain molecules end up without carbon-chain molecules. But not always. It’s an almost-conservation law.
I feel like you’re telling the 19th century chemist “You speak as though you’re trying to discover what the word “organic” means. Words don’t work like that. The meaning of a word is what it is generally used to mean within some speech community [...].”
The chemist is trying to discover what the word ‘organic compound’ means. It’s not vacuous. They need to discover that molecules exist, that molecules are made of atoms, that those atoms are conserved, and that the “organic” vs “inorganic” distinction they’ve been puzzling over is about carbon atoms. The chemists are not arguing over which known concept the word “organic” refers to. They using to words “organic” and “inorganic” to point to natural concepts they don’t yet understand and ask what is the natural shape of those concepts.
EDIT I think it’s fine to say “Agency is a nebulous word that might mean many things. When you’re writing with confusion about agency, please taboo the word ‘agency’ so we understand what you’re pointing to better”. But I would put that on the word ‘consciousness’ much, much more than ‘agency’.
I feel like you’re telling the 19th century chemist “You speak as though you’re trying to discover what the word “organic” means. Words don’t work like that. The meaning of a word is what it is generally used to mean within some speech community [...].”
I am (if he has not already realised this himself).
The chemist is trying to discover what the word ‘organic compound’ means.
No, he’s trying to discover things about organic compounds (which simply meant chemical substances found in living organisms but not yet outside of them). What these substances are made of, how they are created, their role in organisms, and so on. This is not discovering the meaning of “organic compound”.
Wikipedia tells me that “Little consensus exists among chemists on the exact definition of organic compound”. This is not a lack of consensus about their chemistry.
If they could define what they meant by the word, they wouldn’t be puzzled! You can’t ask a natural philosopher from 1820 “what do you mean by ‘vitalism’ and ‘organic’?” and expect them to say “Actually, what I meant was molecules containing chains of carbon atoms”.
Those names were fake explanations for how living things work. “Living thing” was an ordinary expression. Everyone could and can tell the difference between a dog and a rock. No-one knew how it works that some things are alive and some are not, so they gave it a name and mistook that for an explanation.
There is a real, empirical, phenomenon in chemistry. Some molecules contain carbon chains, and some molcules don’t. Usually experiments starting with carbon-chain molecules end with carbon-chain molecules, and experiments without carbon-chain molecules end up without carbon-chain molecules. But not always. It’s an almost-conservation law.
I feel like you’re telling the 19th century chemist “You speak as though you’re trying to discover what the word “organic” means. Words don’t work like that. The meaning of a word is what it is generally used to mean within some speech community [...].”
The chemist is trying to discover what the word ‘organic compound’ means. It’s not vacuous. They need to discover that molecules exist, that molecules are made of atoms, that those atoms are conserved, and that the “organic” vs “inorganic” distinction they’ve been puzzling over is about carbon atoms. The chemists are not arguing over which known concept the word “organic” refers to. They using to words “organic” and “inorganic” to point to natural concepts they don’t yet understand and ask what is the natural shape of those concepts.
EDIT I think it’s fine to say “Agency is a nebulous word that might mean many things. When you’re writing with confusion about agency, please taboo the word ‘agency’ so we understand what you’re pointing to better”. But I would put that on the word ‘consciousness’ much, much more than ‘agency’.
I am (if he has not already realised this himself).
No, he’s trying to discover things about organic compounds (which simply meant chemical substances found in living organisms but not yet outside of them). What these substances are made of, how they are created, their role in organisms, and so on. This is not discovering the meaning of “organic compound”.
Wikipedia tells me that “Little consensus exists among chemists on the exact definition of organic compound”. This is not a lack of consensus about their chemistry.