Epistemology & Philosophy of Science

Volume 25, Issue 3, 2010

What the Concept of Subject Contritutes to Psychology: Agency as a Personality Dimension

The paper gives a metatheoretical analysis of the contemporary practice of the use of the concepts “subject”(“agent”) and “subjectness”(“agency”) in Russian psychology compared to the philosophical tradition and English language psychology. It is shown that the substantial definition of subject prevailing to date in Russian psychology deviates from the functional definition of this concept inherent in philosophical discourse; the utility of the former is at least questionable. On the contrary, the psychological concept of agency as a personality characteristic possesses a rich explanatory potential.