The Cynical Historian

Agency in History | The Diatribe (2019x5)

Air date: Feb 08, 2019

How much agency should we give to historical characters? Are people automatons or completely rational actors? Does everyone behave with full willpower, or are just going through the routine? ------------------------------------------------------------ references, by order shown: Thomas Andrews, Killing for Coal: America’s Deadliest Labor War (Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 2008). https://amzn.to/2RzfdIj Julian Baggini and Peter S. Fosl, The Philosopher’s Toolkit: A Compendium of Philosophical Concepts and Methods (New York: Blackwell Publishing, 2010). https://amzn.to/2ypBBuU Edward T. Linenthal and Tom Engelhardt, History Wars: The Enola Gay and other Battles for the American Past (New York: Henry Holt and Company, 1996). https://amzn.to/2pHmglK George F. Kennan, The Decision to Intervene: Soviet American Relations, 1917-1920, Volume II (Princeton, N.Jer.: Princeton University Press, 1956). https://amzn.to/2vGXzZO E.M. Halliday, The Ignorant Armies (New York: Bantam, 1958). https://amzn.to/2OzcWuD Dee Brown, Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee: An Indian History of the American West (New York: Henry Holt and Company, 1970). https://amzn.to/2vJHe6B ------------------------------------------------------------ SUBSCRIBE FOR MORE VIDEOS: http://www.youtube.com/subscription_center?add_user=CynicalCypher88 Support the channel through Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/CynicalHistorian or pick up some merchandise at SpreadShirt: https://shop.spreadshirt.com/cynicalhistorian LET'S CONNECT: https://www.facebook.com/cynicalcypher88 https://discord.gg/Ukthk4U https://twitter.com/Cynical_History ------------------------------------------------------------ Wiki: Agency is the capacity of an actor to act in a given environment. The capacity to act does not at first imply a specific moral dimension to the ability to make the choice to act, and moral agency is therefore a distinct concept. In sociology, an agent is an i